PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

UT Dallas study: Initial success for new tinnitus treatment

2013-11-21
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Ben Porter
ben.porter@utdallas.edu
972-883-2193
University of Texas at Dallas
UT Dallas study: Initial success for new tinnitus treatment UT Dallas researchers have demonstrated that treating tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, using vagus nerve stimulation-tone therapy is safe and brought significant improvement to some of the participants in a small clinical trial.

Drs. Sven Vanneste and Michael Kilgard of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences used a new method pairing vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) with auditory tones to alleviate the symptoms of chronic tinnitus. Their results were published on Nov. 20 in the journal Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface.

VNS is an FDA-approved method for treating various illnesses, including depression and epilepsy. It involves sending a mild electric pulse through the vagus nerve, which relays information about the state of the body to the brain.

"The primary goal of the study was to evaluate safety of VNS-tone therapy in tinnitus patients," Vanneste said. "VNS-tone therapy was expected to be safe because it requires less than 1 percent of the VNS approved by the FDA for the treatment of intractable epilepsy and depression. There were no significant adverse events in our study."

According to Vanneste, more than 12 million Americans have tinnitus severe enough to seek medical attention, of which 2 million are so disabled that they cannot function normally. He said there has been no consistently effective treatment.

The study, which took place in Antwerp, Belgium, involved implanting 10 tinnitus sufferers with a stimulation electrode directly on the vagus nerve. They received two and a half hours of daily treatment for 20 days. The participants had lived with tinnitus for at least a year prior to participating in the study, and showed no benefit from previous audiological, drug or neuromodulation treatments. Electrical pulses were generated from an external device for this study, but future work could involve using implanted generators eliminating the need for clinical visits.

Half of the participants demonstrated large decreases in their tinnitus symptoms, with three of them showing a 44-percent reduction in the impact of tinnitus on their daily lives. Four people demonstrated clinically meaningful reductions in the perceived loudness of their tinnitus by 26 decibels.

Five participants, all of whom were on medications for other problems, did not show significant changes. However, the four participants who benefited from the therapy were not using any medications. The report attributes drug interactions as blocking the effects of the VNS-tone therapy.

"In all, four of the ten patients showed relevant decreases on tinnitus questionaires and audiological measures," Vanneste said. "The observation that these improvements were stable for more than two months after the end of the one month therapy is encouraging."

Researchers at the University Hospital Antwerp, Belgium, and MicroTransponder Inc. also contributed to the study.

A larger study involving four different centers will soon begin in the United States.

### END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Intestinal bacteria influence food transit through the gut

2013-11-21
Intestinal bacteria influence food transit through the gut Food transit through the small intestine affects the body's absorption of nutrients and, consequently, our health. The discovery that food transit time is regulated by a hormone indicates new ways to ...

Attractants prevent nerve cell migration

2013-11-21
Attractants prevent nerve cell migration Researchers from Bonn University decode a roadblock to nerve cell transplantation A vision is to implant nerve precursor cells in the diseased brains of patients with Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases, whereby ...

Playing computer games makes brains feel and think alike

2013-11-21
Playing computer games makes brains feel and think alike It's well known that people who communicate face-to-face will start to imitate each other. People adopt each other's poses and gestures, much like infectious yawning. What is less ...

New publication studies urban environments of Manchester from a qualitative perspective

2013-11-21
New publication studies urban environments of Manchester from a qualitative perspective Dr Alexander Bridger, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Huddersfield, has published a new paper that explores ways to qualitatively study the urban environments ...

Captive breeding for thousands of years has impaired olfactory functions in silkmoths

2013-11-21
Captive breeding for thousands of years has impaired olfactory functions in silkmoths Domesticated silkmoths Bombyx mori have a much more limited perception of environmental odors compared to their wild relatives; The extremely sensitive olfactory ...

New materials with potential biomedical applications

2013-11-21
New materials with potential biomedical applications Bisphosphonates are a group of compounds that have become well-known and are extensively used as drugs for treating bone-related diseases, such as osteoporosis. New uses for bisphosphonates ...

Ultrasound, nanoparticles may help diabetics avoid the needle

2013-11-21
Ultrasound, nanoparticles may help diabetics avoid the needle A new nanotechnology-based technique for regulating blood sugar in diabetics may give patients the ability to release insulin painlessly using a small ultrasound device, allowing them to ...

Scientists show how cells protect their DNA from catastrophic damage

2013-11-21
Scientists show how cells protect their DNA from catastrophic damage Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have unveiled a profound biological process that explains how DNA can be damaged during genome replication. In addition, the scientists developed ...

Stress and isolation take toll on those under 50 with HIV; older people fare better

2013-11-21
Stress and isolation take toll on those under 50 with HIV; older people fare better Case Western Reserve University researchers were surprised to learn that people younger than 50 years old with HIV feel more isolated and stressed than older people ...

Rutegrs-Camden nursing scholar develops tool for ostomy care

2013-11-21
Rutegrs-Camden nursing scholar develops tool for ostomy care CAMDEN — Nurses caring for ostomy patients will now be equipped with an essential new tool that provides them with the first comprehensive guide to optimize ostomy management and enhance patient safety. ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Enhancing heat transfer using the turbulent flow of viscoelastic fluids

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

[Press-News.org] UT Dallas study: Initial success for new tinnitus treatment