JAMA Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery published their latest study on helping people with ‘constant ringing noise’ otherwise known as tinnitus. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to a patient’s brain significantly eases the affects of tinnitus.
People suffering from this condition (almost 1 in 5 people are affected due to age-related issues, injuries to the ear and damaged nerves) hear a constant buzzing/ringing/hissing or even whistling noise which causes significant problems in their daily lives.
At present there are no known permanent cure for tinnitus. The minor treatments that are available in the market include noise suppression and solving health conditions that are identified as the root cause behind problem. More than 20% of the victims suffering from this chronic problem have reported that their quality of life has been significantly hampered.
Studies conducted in the past have shown that people suffering from this condition have an unexplainable increased activity in the auditory cortex region of the brain.
Robert L. Folmer - of the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Oregon Health & Science University, Portland along with colleagues wanted to test out using low frequency rTMS to reduce brain activity in targeted regions to specifically help people suffering from tinnitus.
70 patients suffering from chronic tinnitus were chosen and were randomly given either an active or placebo rTMS.
The treatment went for 10 consecutive work days. Each session had 2,000 pulses of rTMS to try and reduce activity in the targeted regions of the patient’s brain. Follow-up sessions were conducted by the researchers after the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 13th and 26th weeks from the final rTMS session to measure the severity of tinnitus using the Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI).
The results speak for themselves. More than 56% of the patients in the active rTMS section responded to the treatment in comparison to only 22% in the placebo group. Patients who received active rTMS treatment experienced 31% reduction in their tinnitus at the end of the 26th week follow-up in comparison to their tinnitus at the beginning of the study. While patients in the placebo group experienced a 7% reduction only.
“I don’t see TMS changing all that, however I see it as an alternative choice for serving to some sufferers,” commented Robert Folmer. “Instead, rTMS could augment existing tinnitus therapies and provide a viable option for patients who do not respond favourably to other treatments,” added the author.
“If rTMS continues to demonstrate efficacy as a treatment for tinnitus, future investigations should include multisite clinical trials. If these larger clinical trials replicate efficacy of rTMS that has been demonstrated in the present study, then steps should be taken to implement the procedure as a clinical treatment for chronic tinnitus,” suggested the authors of the study.
Steven Myers
