ENT - Sodium Channel Research Project
Action for Tinnitus Research has never wavered from its goal of funding leading edge research. Our objective is to find treatments for tinnitus and our ultimate ambition is to find a cure. Thanks to your generous support, we have been able to fund a number of research projects. This research has lead to a number of exciting developments and findings, and has enabled the charity to push the boundaries of research even further.
We are delighted able to report on some of the groundbreaking research activities initiated and supported by Action for Tinnitus Research. This includes an ENT - Sodium Channel Research Project.
One of the key questions researchers into tinnitus ask is: 'How does damage to those parts of the ear and brain, that deal with sound, result in tinnitus?' Work being carried out by Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) specialists has begun to focus on the very specific and sensitive microscopic pores (known as ion channels) present in nerve fibres that allow nerve signals to be conducted from our ears to the brain.
Results seem to show that there are at least two different types of a particular group of channels, known as sodium channels, in the normal ear. Research is underway to discover whether damaged ears may have many other types of channels. The view is, where there is damage that causes tinnitus, that standard sodium channels may become replaced by other types that are over sensitive. It is this over sensitivity that may result in some types of tinnitus.
