Toward a Self-Administered Hearing Protection Regimen
Abstract
This project aims to further both our basic understanding of the effects of different oral statins, with and without steroid drugs, on hearing loss and to compare the ability to protect hearing with the ability to protect hair cells and synapses within the cochlea. Concomitant with the laboratory studies we are undertaking a small, innovative clinical trial (randomized, double blind, prospective) to determine if the prevailing treatment (steroids) of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) can be improved by adding a short course of statins. We are up and working despite having our laboratory moved for a second time in two years. This year we began to examine the ability of steroids given orally or IP to CBA/CaJ mice to protect against high level noise exposure (110 x 2 hr x 8-16 kHz). Thus far, none of our approaches have demonstrated any protective activity of the steroids on hearing thresholds. We also began accruing patients for our study of SSNHL. Thus far, we have one patient on the protocol who met all the inclusion and none of the exclusion criteria. This patients hearing loss was severe but was completely reversed by whichever drug (randomized, double-blinded) received.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1223443
Entities
People
- Donna S. Whitlon
Organizations
- Northwestern University