by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
This press release from Northern Arizona University discusses a professor’s research on a new drug to see if it can prevent noise-induced hearing loss. Noise causes the production of reactive oxygen species in the cochlea, damaging delicate hair cells. The new drug, derived from a plant found in the Amazon, helps repair DNA and that might help prevent noise-induced hearing loss.
I’m always puzzled, though, that in the U.S. we try to find “a pill for every ill,” rather than focusing on preventing disease.
People want a pill to help them lose weight, rather than eating right and exercising.
They want creams to reduce wrinkles and age spots, rather than avoiding the sun.
And they want a pill to prevent hearing loss.
The professor doing the research, O’neil Guthrie, states “[e]ven after more than 100 years of research on hearing loss, there is still no widely accepted biomedical treatment or prevention.” I would have to disagree with him. I’m not sure what he means by a “biomedical treatment or prevention,” but avoiding loud noise, or using hearing protection, certainly prevents noise-induced hearing loss. And that’s what I recommend.
Because if something sounds too loud, it IS too loud.
