04-10-2009, 05:05 PM
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Anyone got tinnitus?
New research shows that it may actually be controlled by the brain, and not the actual ear drum as previously thought...Tinnitus is a condition where sounds are heard in one or both ears when there is no external source.
While doctors had thought tinnitus was generated by ear problems, they now believe it is generated in the brain.
The team at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit used a special scanner to map the locations in the brain.
They hope it will allow more targeted therapies to be developed.
The scan is called magnetoencephalography (MEG) and it measures the very small magnetic fields generated by intracellular electrical currents in the neuron cells in the brain.
The team at the Henry Ford Hospital have already tried using chips which generate electrical noise directly in the brain in two patients to try to interfere with the tinnitus signals.
They are presenting their findings to the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology.
Scanning results
The doctors collected MEG results from 17 patients with tinnitus and 10 patients without.
They played patients various sounds until they agreed that that was the sound they experienced and then scanned their brains while the sound was played.
For the patients with tinnitus in one ear, MEG imaging detected the greatest amount of activity in the auditory cortex on the opposite side of the brain.
For patients with ringing in both ears, MEG revealed activity in both hemispheres of the brain, with greater activity appearing in the opposite side of the brain to the ear with the strongest perception of tinnitus.
Dr Michael Seidman, director of neurologic surgery at the Henry Ford Hospital, who led the work, said 2-4% of sufferers had really persistent tinnitus that they found impossible to ignore.
He said: "Using MEG, we can actually see the areas in the brain that are generating the patient's tinnitus which allows us to target and treat it.
"Another part of the brain that lights up is the limbic system which is supposed to govern how we react to things.
"This may explain why some patients can fairly successfully ignore their tinnitus while others find themselves fixated on it."
Dr Seidman said imaging systems currently used to study tinnitus provide a general location compared to the sophistication of MEG.
He said: "It's like having the lights on in only the city of Detroit, compared to having the lights on in the entire state of Michigan."
Dr Mark Downs, executive director at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People said, more than half a million people in the UK had their health seriously affected by tinnitus.
He said: "This work could potentially solve a further piece of the tinnitus puzzle.
"It is a unique way to monitor how the brain is affected by tinnitus in real time, helping researchers to see how effective new treatments are."
TINNITUS FACTS
- 2.3 million sufferers in the UK with moderate or severe tinnitus
- Characterised by a singing, ringing, buzzing or whistling noise in the ear
- Some sufferers notice the sounds when it is very quiet, some find they are much louder
- Tinnitus noise can beat in time with your pulse
- Most people experience brief periods of tinnitus after long exposure to loud noise
I actually suffer from tinnitus... from years of abuse of loud music
04-10-2009, 05:12 PM
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Re: Anyone got tinnitus?
That's interesting.It's very like similar research which was published just recently about people who hear a constant low note and look for environmental factors, get the Environmental Health Dept checking local factories etc etc - it appears that the problem is also inside their heads. They have the matter explained and are helped to 'just ignore it' - and it goes ... or diminishes. Fascinating, isn't it?
Edit: Here's a link
04-10-2009, 05:25 PM
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Re: Anyone got tinnitus?
It could be caused by transmitters too - like how some people get headaches when speaking on a mobile phone for a while (esp the older models)....which leads nicely into epigenetics - where genes can and are changed by environmental factors. They've done studies on twins as they were previously baffled as to why some twins were overweight when their twin wasn't, how some twins got serious disease while their twin didn't, etc.
Fascinating stuff! And really goes to show how a healthy lifestyle can make all the difference
04-10-2009, 05:50 PM
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Re: Anyone got tinnitus?
The Bristol hum has been around for years and affects many. I have a continuous "noise" in my ears ...... I can't describe it as humming or buzzing or loud, just a noise. There is nothing in our area that could be the cause of it and I'm so used to it now and tend to ignore it.
04-10-2009, 06:31 PM
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Re: Anyone got tinnitus?
That's interesting AzzI have tinnitus which for me is a ringing noise in just one ear. It seems to be worse some days than others and is of course accentuated by silence.
I don't notice it for a lot of the time because my radio is on for most of the day .
04-10-2009, 06:58 PM
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Re: Anyone got tinnitus?
I'm so glad you brought this subject up Azz, I've had Tinnitus for about 8 months now in both ears and it's there all the time. I'm so pleased to hear others on here suffer with it (well not literally) but it's like you think you're the only one that's got it.Mine started after having a bout of insomonia that lasted 1 and a half weeks and I didn't sleep a minute in all that time (honestly), I was a complete wreck. I was eventually put on different sleeping tablets and after 3 days of being on different tablets, one morning I felt terrible, so sleepy and groggy and that's when the tinnitus started and hasn't stopped since.
I'm sorry to hear you suffer from it Azz and a few of you others, it does get on your nerves doesn't it but all you can do is try and ignore it. It's worrying all the same isnt it.
Thanks for bringing this subject up Azz and very interesting reading. (sorry about the print being a bit on the large size).
04-10-2009, 07:25 PM
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Re: Anyone got tinnitus?
You might have too much ear wax Alicat
If you didn't have an ear infection or wasn't subjected to some loud noise - I would ask your GP to check your ears for wax Mine isn't too bad 'touch wood', like Meg, I only really hear it when it's dead quiet (usually at night).
Mags - I've heard about the Bristol hum and how it 'makes' people do 'stuff'
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