by Donna M. Stewart, Hear Central Saanich –
Animals do so much to enrich our lives. This is especially true for those with hearing loss.
Untreated hearing loss (when someone has a significant hearing loss but does not use amplification) has been linked to depression, social isolation, cognitive decline, impaired memory, anxiety, and even an increased chance of falling.
There’s no denying the boost received when coming home to a furry friend who is overjoyed to see you. Beyond the unconditional love they shower on us (with the possible exception of cats), pets provide an array of emotional and health benefits.
For more than 25 years, research has shown pet ownership can decrease depression and stress. Health-wise, our animal co-habitants can help to lower blood pressure, lessen anxiety, and can even decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke. On top of all that, animals may hold the key to reversing hearing loss.
In our inner ear there are tiny hair cells with microscopic projections called stereocilia. When sound travels through our auditory system and stimulates these hair cells, an electrical signal is sent up the auditory nerve to the brain, which processes the signal as something we recognize and understand. Although we are born with thousands of hair cells, once they are damaged, from medication, disease, noise exposure or the aging process, they’re gone forever. This is where we can take a cue from our animal friends.
Surprisingly, for some species, hearing loss is only temporary. In the late 1980s, researchers at the University of Washington discovered that a chicken can incur hearing loss, but within a couple of weeks it will have completely regrown its hair cells and recovered its hearing. Some fish and lower invertebrates possess the same ability. What’s their secret? And more importantly, can this ability be duplicated in mammals, specifically humans?
Scientists have been trying to replicate the feat of hair cell regeneration for decades. In 2013, Harvard Medical School, together with Boston Children’s Hospital researchers, reported on a gene therapy that can restore hearing in mice.
An experimental drug known as a gamma secretase inhibitor was administered to a group of deaf mice. These drugs were originally developed to treat Alzheimer’s disease, but were not successful for that purpose and never made it past trial stages. However, in mice, the gamma secretase inhibitor was found to have a surprising side effect. They served to convince support cells in the inner ear to transform into functioning hair cells. Although it wasn’t a complete cure, with the mice only getting about 20 percent of their hearing back, the study showed that it is possible to grow new hair cells in mammals. Researchers estimate drug therapies to prevent and partially reverse hearing loss could be hitting the market in the next 10 to 15 years.
Does that mean you should hold off on your purchase of hearing aids? Definitely not. We know that the sooner hearing loss is treated, the more positive the long-term outcomes. Hearing aids have come so far in my 26 years as an audiologist. Its not uncommon for customers to tell me they love their hearing aids and wish they would have gotten them sooner. So until there are medical therapies available, hearing aids are the best available treatment.
