DDR: What is dramatically different now compared with 10 years ago, is that tinnitus research was not considered a real study topic, whereas now the field of tinnitus research has at least some respectability. Our professional colleagues no longer ask, “Why would you waste time on a condition that is not well defined, that you cannot objectively measure?” There are thousands of people who are studying pain, equally hard to define and measure, and yet that is a more respectable field of study. The same is now true for tinnitus.
ATA: Is there anything else about the field of tinnitus that deserves mention?
BL: A positive aspect of the tinnitus field is that currently there is a lot of collaboration. Without large amounts of funding, it is imperative that people who have the desire to improve tinnitus research and treatments work together. Even if investigators may not share the same exact research goals, there is a huge overlap of interest for better treatments for tinnitus.
DDR: Because the field is relatively small compared with other diseases and conditions, a clinical finding
can be quickly translated to animal research, and then back to humans in the clinic. For example, when we started to work with combined vagus nerve and audi- tory stimulation, following the Kilgard approach, the treatment was developed in animals and when we translated it to humans and had some extra questions. Within a month, we had answers by new animal exper- iments. This kind of quick reaction is almost impossible in a larger field because each researcher has organized his/her research for the next three to five years. With tinnitus, we can translate our research faster for clinical treatments depending on the importance of the finding.
This is an excerpt from a longer interview with Drs. De Ridder and Langguth where they share detailed obser- vations about the current state of tinnitus research. To read the full interview, please visit
ATA.org/TRI-2012.
Berthold Langguth, M.D., Ph.D., is Chair of the Executive Committee of TRI. He is also a Neurologist and Professor of Psychiatry at the Bezirksklinikum, University of Regensburg, Germany. Dirk De Ridder, M.D., Ph.D., also serves on the Executive Committee of TRI. He is a Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Antwerp, Belgium.
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Serenade_TinnToday_halfpg_4C.indd 1 Summer 2012 | Tinnitus Today 6/5/12 8:39 PM 27 ®
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