It has to do with the tiny hair cells inside your ears.
For many people, losing hearing as you age is an unavoidable reality of life. It’s estimated that one in three adults over the age of 65 has some type of hearing loss and because it can happen so gradually, not everyone who suffers from it is aware they even have it. A lot of people go around not being able to hear the world as well as they could. Some are even missing out on valuable communications without being aware of this.
Some ways of addressing age-related hearing loss include wearing a hearing aid, or having surgery. Researchers from Northwestern University have made a new discovery, however, that may allow your body to heal from the inside out. It involves the tiny hairs located inside your ears and reprogramming things using genetics.
Why you lose your hearing in the first place
If you suffer from age-related hearing loss, it’s most likely the outer hair cells made by your ear’s cochlea have died out. These hair cells are one that developed before you were born, as an embryo, and unfortunately, they don’t reproduce. When you hear a sound, these outer hair cells are expanding and contracting as they respond to the surrounding sound waves and the pressure they create in the air.
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This action amplifies the sound for your inner hair cells and these then transmit the vibrations to your neurons, allowing you to hear. Basically, it’s a long, but actually very short, road, that produces voices, songs, and loud noises in your head.
If your outer hair cells have died out, however, the journey of sound in your ear doesn’t even start. There’s no one at the wheel.
A master gene that programs hair cells has been discovered
At the moment, scientists can actually create an artificial hair cell. The bad news has been, until now, they couldn’t differentiate this cell between an outer or an inner hair cell. This stopped research from moving forwards and developing new treatments.
The good news is, scientists at Northwestern University have now identified TBX2, the master gene switch involved in programming your ear cells. When this gene is expressed, the cell identified then becomes an inner hair cell. When it’s blocked, an outer hair cell is developed.
Going forward, researchers are now hoping to use this information to reprogram supporting hair cells in people with dead outer hair cells in their ears. In theory, this should help restore hearing.
Common symptoms of hearing loss
The new science is exciting but unfortunately, it won’t help you just yet. Other solutions exist, however. If you have the following symptoms you might have hearing loss:
- Sounds and people speaking sound mumbled
- High-pitched sounds are difficult to hear
- Conversations are hard to follow
- Some sounds seem too loud
- Men’s voices become easier to than those of women
- You hear ringing in your ears
Talk to your doctor about solutions that can help you hear again. It’s worth regaining your clarity and is good for your overall quality of life.
photo credits: edwardolive/Shutterstock.com
