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Programmet
"Today" på NBC – 23/1-1998
(Denne
siden er fremdeles ikke ferdig oversatt)
23.
januar 1998 gjorde jeg min andre opptreden i det direktesendte
NBC programmet "Today". En interesant undersøkelse
om tinnitus var akkurat blitt publisert i januar-utgaven av
magasinet Neurology, og jeg ble bedt om å diskutere
artikkelen og dens betydning.
Stephen
M. Nagler, MD, FACS
KATIE COURIC, co-host:
This morning on "Today's Health" -
breakthrough findings on tinn-it-us or tin-nite-us, including new
hope for the estimated 50 million Americans who have this
condition, also known as "ringing in the ears."
Dr. Stephen Nagler is Director of the Southeastern
Comprehensive Tinnitus Clinic. Dr. Nagler, good
morning. Nice to see you.
Dr. STEPHEN NAGLER
(Southeastern Comprehensive Tinnitus Clinic; Alliance Tinnitus
and Hyperacusis Center):
Good morning, Ms. Couric.
COURIC:
Why don't you explain what tinnitus is exactly.
Dr.
NAGLER: Tinnitus is the experience of sound that comes from
a source that is not external to the body. It's definitely
a physical phenomenon rather than a psychological phenomenon.
About 50 million Americans, as you mentioned, experience it.
Maybe 10 million Americans really suffer from it - are
significantly affected by it.
COURIC: Is this
ringing in the ears or ear - is it a sporadic event or is it
a constant ringing?
Dr. NAGLER: It can be sporadic,
but more commonly it is constant. Sometimes you may not be
aware of it, but usually it's a constant phenomenon. People
are really plagued by it.
COURIC: It's brought on
by certain things, isn't it, Doctor?
Dr. NAGLER:
Certain things can aggravate it. The cause in most cases is
felt to be - the original source is felt to be a problem in
the inner ear, but there can be several causes. Noise
exposure is the predominant initial insult.
COURIC:
Tell us about this new research that is so exciting.
Dr.
NAGLER: It is exciting, and this is research by Drs.
Lockwood and Salvi from Buffalo. And it has implications
not only for a potential future cure, but implications for
present treatment. They found a group of tinnitus
sufferers, who by various facial and oral movements were able to
alter the intensity of their tinnitus. They could turn
their tinnitus "on" and "off."
COURIC:
They could do it by adjusting their jaw, right?
Dr.
NAGLER: In some ways, but that's not relevant. What
is relevant is that they were able to control their tinnitus, so
they could be studied using a special kind of scanner to see the
various brain activity when they had their tinnitus and when they
didn't. And what they found is that there was activity in
the auditory cortex, which is over here in the temporal lobe of
the brain (points to model of brain) where you would expect to
see it, and that's what they expected to find when the tinnitus
was present. And there was no activity in this area of
conscious awareness when the tinnitus was absent. What they
didn't expect to find was that when tinnitus was present there
was also activity in a subconscious part of the brain called the
limbic system (points to limbic system in model of brain).
The implications for future potential cure is that if
pharmacological, or biochemical, or even possibly surgical
approaches can be made to the to the tinnitus areas within the
limbic system, there is potential cure. And for present
treatment - for present tinnitus sufferers, among the
several effective treatments present is one treatment developed
by Dr. Pawel Jastreboff at the University of Maryland,
which is directed at physiologically altering the bond between
the limbic system and tinnitus. The implication is that
this treatment - "Tinnitus Retraining Therapy" -
was originally based upon Jastreboff's theory. This is the
first hard evidence that the theory may, indeed, be valid.
And it's very very hopeful for now and for the future.
COURIC:
Very exciting. You think you're optimistic that this
research will aid scientists and physicians in terms of finding
an actual cure.
Dr. NAGLER: I really believe that,
and in fact Lockwood and Salvi were just granted a $1.5 million
grant to move ahead with their studies. And the present
treatment is available at several places within the
United States, and for the future hopefully we will have a
cure.
COURIC: Yea, hopefully we'll help those 50
million.
Dr. NAGLER: It would be terrific if we
could.
COURIC: All right, Dr. Nagler, thanks
so much for joining us.
Dr. NAGLER: It was my
pleasure.
COURIC: I know you have to head back to
Atlanta.
Dr. NAGLER: Right, have to get back to
work.
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