Medicine is progressing! Is it a revolution that will prove to be a breakthrough in hearing treatment?
Most of our blog posts talk about what a delicate organ hearing is. We often scare people that by undertaking normal life activities, it can be damaged. We write that the process is irreversible, so prevention is better than cure later.
It's our little mission to promote hearing conservation awareness. In the hope that at least one person who reads this and takes it to heart will be spared the problem. This time, we have an absolutely wonderful news story for you about how a breakthrough gene therapy has succeeded in restoring the hearing of a one-and-a-half-year-old girl who was born deaf.
Breakthrough in the treatment of deafness! Gene therapy restores a girl's hearing!
What seemed impossible until now has just become a reality! Opal Sandy, a one and a half year old girl from the UK, was born with congenital deafness caused by a mutation in the OTOF gene. Her parents had no idea for the first few months that their daughter was deaf - it was only when specialist tests confirmed that the girl was not responding to sounds at all.
Usually in such cases, the only solution is cochlear implants, which help to perceive sounds, but do not restore natural hearing. This time, however, the doctors decided to try something completely new - gene therapy.
How does gene therapy work?
In Opal's case, the problem was a mutation in the OTOF gene, which is responsible for the production of otoferlin - a protein crucial to the proper functioning of auditory cells in the inner ear. The lack of this protein means that sound impulses are not transmitted to the brain, leading to deafness.
The researchers decided to deliver the correct version of this gene directly to the auditory cells in the ear. A few weeks after the treatment, Opal started to respond to sounds! Something that seemed like science fiction not long ago has become a reality.
Does this mean the end of genetic deafness?
This is only the beginning of the research, but the results are extremely promising. Doctors and scientists now have to see how long the effects of the therapy last and whether the method will be effective in more patients. If further trials are successful, this could be a revolution in the treatment of congenital deafness and other genetic conditions.
Imagine a world where damaged genes can be ‘fixed’ and people who are born deaf can hear for the first time in their lives. This is no longer a distant vision of the future - it is happening now!
Will gene therapy become the standard treatment for deafness? We still have to wait for the answer, but one thing is certain - we are witnessing something really big.