How an antioxidant minimizes or even cures hearing problems
By: John Good
Submitted: 2010-08-28 14:14:01 | Word Count: 883
Imagine a pill that could reduce the hearing loss caused by loud noise and see it being pursued by scientists for years now, collecting evidence from lab animal studies. Now, it's time to call in the Marines. Marines of Camp Pendleton California will soon get into rifle training and all 600 of them will do so with foam plugs in their ears and drinking a refreshing tea concoction in wild berry flavor.
They will be asked to take it with every meal as they embark on their noisy training for two weeks, something that usually erodes the hearing ability from about 10 percent among the trainees. If all turns out as planned, hearing examinations might prove that a substance within the drink altered some things. This certainly is the newest bump in the road of finding the medical solution that will both cure and prevent hearing loss caused by loud noise. This effort has been gaining ground in the past year even if it is not really new, shares the experts.
[ advertisement ]
It is said, according to federal government reports, that loss of hearing due to noise exposure is the second most self reported occupational injury or malady and it is also the most common occupational disease. It has been found that people who either enter prolonged exposure to noisy surroundings or get caught in a sudden burst suffer from permanent hearing loss and to date, 10 million Americans have been affected. The figures of people being exposed to workplaces with hazardous noise levels have now reached 30 million and this covers the areas of agriculture, manufacturing, construction and mining.
Persons like professional musicians should also take care. A man who was part of a huge band style performance may have forgotten to put on any protective ear device and this made him put his hands on his ears and duck while the trumpet sounded right behind him. Be careful when you hop on your snowmobile or motorcycle or when you plan to go for some recreational shooting as these can pose threats.
It is wise to wear earplugs or earmuffs specifically made to kill sound, but then at most cases, they may not be enough. There are varieties of sound which overwhelm these devices. We would find that some are simply susceptible to hearing damage while the others just neglect the importance of such things. Plus, some levels of sound can destroy hearing by reaching the skull even if there is some sort of protection in the ears.
This is due to the fact that loud noise that comes in brute force may not always be the reason for damage caused to the inner ear which is extremely delicate. However, we see that in most cases, the inner ear gets provoked and thus, free radicals which are hazardous oxygen molecules are created. Antioxidants perform effectively in removing free radicals found in the body as the ear is found to naturally possesses defenses of these kinds. But when a certain level of noise gets to the ear, the antioxidants get disturbed.
Such scenario depicts how the free radicals cause damage and such leads to the death of the receptors of sound in the ear. Needless to say, building up the ear's antioxidant defense to prevent negative effects and making it the cure after being exposed to noise does turn out to be very sensible and truthful. There is much promise in animal experiments paving the way for prevention and this excites many people when they await the time that this security is applied to humans and protect them when they get exposed to noise.
There is one pioneer in the field of antioxidants for hearing who states that he has seen its marvelous effects on different patients. He was able to secure a nutritional supplement patent for what he recommended to hundreds of patients to remedy their hearing loss woes due to either aging or noise or both. Many of them could not help but marvel at how slow the progression of their hearing loss became as well as how their hearing got better. Even as this was not enough to make people throw their hearing aids away, it still was able to make these people who suffer from moderate to severe hearing loss set their instruments aside for a while or even shift to a mode that is smaller and less stronger.
The scientist who was hands on with the test on the Marines and his group leading the same studies were able to get encouraging results from the antioxidant compound runs using animals in their laboratories. His concentration is on N acetylcysteine or NAC, a federally approved cure for overdoses on this well known painkiller. As the NAC neutralizes the free radicals, the antioxidant defense of the ear is enhanced. Before and after the animals got exposed, NAC was given and this has significantly reduced hearing loss. Determining the need for a hearing aid is what the effect dictates, when translated to humans.
Author Resource:-
This site teaches you about hearing tests. A deeper insight relating to hard of hearing is found there.
