In just over a decade the first clinical trials could be performed to use stem cells against childhood deafness, according to Marcelo Rivolta of the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.
It is important to highlight that three out of every thousand children are born with total or partial hearing loss and others lose their hearing during the first years of their life.
Until now, the resource for those children under six with hearing losses greater than 90 decibels was the cochlear implant, which allows the auditory nerve to be stimulated electronically.
But every time science advances more and more, and for that reason it is looking for some way to get to generate a complete biological prosthesis of the ear.
Based on this utopia, different researchers believe that, as indicated at the beginning, the first clinical trials of the treatment of deafness in childhood with stem cells and cochlear implants could be initiated within ten years.
Thus, in a recent investigation, it has been possible to create, by modifying certain stem cells of the inner ear, new sensory cells capable of receiving sounds.
In addition, it has also been possible to regenerate those neurons that are necessary to process such sound information and, finally, the hearing is effective.
Therefore, for these children to develop language and speech in the same way as children with normal hearing it is essential that hearing loss is detected before the month and treatment is started at three months.
So, these future new trials with stem cells against childhood deafness They can be a great achievement in overcoming barriers.
