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Hearing loss, tinnitus focus of conference
International experts to discuss emerging science, treatment and prevention
By LOIS BAKER
Contributing Editor
An international symposium focusing on major developments in research, treatment and prevention of acquired hearing loss and tinnitus cohosted by the Center for Hearing and Deafness at UB and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command will be held in Niagara Falls, Ontario, on Oct. 9-12.
The symposium, "Pharmacologic Strategies for Prevention and Treatment of Hearing Loss and Tinnitus," will feature retired Gen. Jack Keane, former vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army, as the keynote speaker.
Thirty-five internationally recognized scientists and clinicians from the United States, Europe and Asia will address the role of oxidative stress in ear disorders, pathways of cell death and drugs or devices that prevent or treat hearing loss and tinnitus.
The goal of the symposium and concurrent poster session will be to guide scientific discoveries into clinical applications.
Hearing loss and tinnitus are serious and pervasive health problems in both the young and the old. In industrialized societies, hearing loss in the young typically arises from acoustic overstimulation, such as exposure to gunfire, noisy machinery or very loud music. Exposure to the antibiotic streptomycin and the anti-cancer drug cisplatin also can cause loss of hearing.
Approximately 25 percent of combat personnel develop significant hearing loss, and the condition ranks among the top 10 disabilities for the Veterans Administration. Hearing ability inevitably decreases as people enter their senior years. Statistics show that nearly half of 65-year-olds have some hearing loss, and that the deficit worsens as they age.
Hearing loss often is accompanied by tinnitus, a severe ringing or buzzing sensation that occurs in the absence of sound. The American Tinnitus Association estimates that more than 50 million people in the United States have experienced tinnitus. The condition warrants medical attention in 12 million, and is severe and disabling in 2 million, according to the association.
The scientists will address ear disorders under three subcategories: noise-induced and age-related hearing loss, tinnitus and ototoxicity, or drug-induced hearing loss.
Richard Salvi and Donald Henderson, co-directors of the Center for Hearing and Deafness in the Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, organized the symposium.
In addition to UB and the Army, symposium sponsors are the Office of Naval Research, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Ceptor Corp., Spectra Services Inc., Tucker Davis Technologies, American BioHealth Group, Kinex, John R. Oishei Foundation and Auris Medical.