Deafness News and Research

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Research discovery advances efforts to replace damaged heart muscle

In a study that began in a pair of infant siblings with a rare heart defect, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have identified a key molecular switch that regulates heart cell division and normally turns the process off around the time of birth. Their research, they report, could advance efforts to turn the process back on and regenerate heart tissue damaged by heart attacks or disease.

4 Mar 2014

Goal: Therapies for hearing loss and communications problems

Research scientist Christine Portfors will study how the brain chemical dopamine influences hearing with support from the National Institutes of Health. The work may ultimately lead to better therapies for people with hearing loss and communication problems.

27 Feb 2014

Leicester research reveals how noise damages hearing system

A research team investigating tinnitus, from the University of Leicester, has revealed new insights into the link between the exposure to loud sounds and hearing loss.

17 Feb 2014

TV series House helps doctors diagnose Cobalt intoxication of patient with hip replacement

In today’s edition of The Lancet [Friday 7 February], doctors report the case of a patient with severe heart failure, who in May 2012 was referred to the Marburg University clinic in Germany.

10 Feb 2014

Researchers discover protein required for growth of hair-like structures on cell surfaces

A team of researchers from Penn State University and the University of California has discovered a protein that is required for the growth of tiny, but critical, hair-like structures called cilia on cell surfaces.

28 Jan 2014

FDA-regulated study investigates use of child's stem cells for acquired sensorineural hearing loss

Cord Blood Registry, the world's largest and most experienced newborn stem cell company, announces the start of a U.S. Food and Drug-regulated study being conducted at Florida Hospital for Children in Orlando to investigate the use of a child's stem cells from their own stored umbilical cord blood as a treatment for acquired sensorineural hearing loss.

16 Jan 2014

Research findings could provide better understanding of anxiety disorders

In a new study published today in Science, John McGann, associate professor of behavioral and systems neuroscience in the Department of Psychology, and his colleagues, report that neurons in the noses of laboratory animals reacted more strongly to threatening odors before the odor message was sent to the brain.

13 Dec 2013

Researchers may have figured out ways to attack Meniere's disease

Researchers at University of Colorado School of Medicine may have figured out what causes Meniere's disease and how to attack it. According to Carol Foster, MD, from the department of otolaryngology and Robert Breeze, MD, a neurosurgeon, there is a strong association between Meniere's disease and conditions involving temporary low blood flow in the brain such as migraine headaches.

7 Dec 2013

Measles still poses threat to domestic and global health security

Fifty years after the approval of an extremely effective vaccine against measles, one of the world's most contagious diseases, the virus still poses a threat to domestic and global health security.

5 Dec 2013

Lord Walton of Detchant receives honorary degree from Northumbria University

Northumbria University, Newcastle has today awarded Lord Walton of Detchant with an honorary degree in recognition of his long career as a world-leading neurologist.

4 Dec 2013

Chicken eggs can provide better understanding of human birth defects

Clemson University researchers found that chicken eggs can provide a better understanding of human birth defects. Susan Chapman, associate professor in Clemson's College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences, received a South Carolina IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence award that allowed researchers to identify two regions in the chicken genome that are associated with congenital deafness and spine deformities in humans.

26 Nov 2013

Stem cells from Wolfram syndrome patients used to elucidate beta-cell failure pathway in diabetes

Scientists from the New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute and Columbia University Medical Center have used stem cells created from the skin of patients with a rare form of diabetes—Wolfram syndrome—to elucidate an important biochemical pathway for beta-cell failure in diabetes. The findings by Linshan Shang and colleagues were published today in Diabetes.

13 Nov 2013

Study provides new evidence underlining the significance of bitter taste perception

It's no coincidence that the expression "to leave a bitter taste in one's mouth" has a double meaning; people often have strong negative reactions to bitter substances, which, though found in healthful foods like vegetables, can also signify toxicity. For this reason, the ability to sense bitterness likely played an important role in human evolution.

12 Nov 2013

Black women with vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy more likely to deliver preterm babies

African-American and Puerto Rican women who have low levels of vitamin D during pregnancy are more likely to go into labor early and give birth to preterm babies, research led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health reveals.

31 Oct 2013

CHOP offers new software toolkit to help researchers wrangle data

Biomedical researchers often confront large quantities of information that may be amassed in many forms: vital signs, blood cell counts, lengthy DNA sequences, bar graphs, MRIs, patient demographics, and so much more. How do researchers assemble, access and analyze all that data without having to become specialized database technicians themselves?

18 Oct 2013

Multiple courses of prenatal corticosteroids did not increase risk of death for young children

Multiple courses of prenatal corticosteroids, compared with a single course, taken by pregnant women to help prevent preterm birth was associated with no increase or decrease in the risk of death or disability for their children at age 5, according to a study published by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication.

15 Oct 2013

Study: French horn players are one of the most at-risk groups of developing NIHL

Professional French horn players may need to seriously consider adopting effective strategies to prevent noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). A new study published online in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (JOEH) found further evidence that French horn players are one of the most at-risk groups of developing NIHL among professional orchestral musicians.

25 Sep 2013

Study: Bird brain can serve as useful model to study human brain

Pursuing their interests in using the brains of birds as a model for the human brain, an international team of researchers led by Duke neuroscientist Erich Jarvis and his collaborators Chun-Chun Chen and Kazuhiro Wada have just completed a mapping of the bird brain based on a 10-year exploration of the tiny cerebrums of eight species of birds.

19 Sep 2013

Study evaluates effectiveness of new meningitis serogroup A vaccine in sub-Saharan Africa

Evaluation of the effectiveness of a mass vaccination campaign with a new meningitis serogroup A vaccine, PsA-TT, in sub-Saharan Africa found that it had a dramatic impact on cases of serogroup meningitis and on carriage of the disease-causing bacteria in the throat, according to new research published in The Lancet.

13 Sep 2013

Understanding single-sided deafness

Single-sided deafness, or being deaf in one ear, isn't exactly the poster-child for disabilities. Rather, it's an overlooked condition that is often misunderstood by the public. There is no way to see SSD, also called profound unilateral hearing loss, so those who suffer from it are often misperceived as "rude" or "unintelligent" when they don't understand or quickly respond to others. That's just one of the many hidden struggles associated with this condition.

5 Sep 2013