Most patients with tinnitus can not be corrected by any known method. However, the efficacy of treatments, such as stimulation, can be significant for some patients. The patient education and the compliance of treatment with both psychological and medical treatments are of importance in the success rate of tinnitus correction.
There are 3.3 million tinnitus affected adults in the Unites States of America each year. There are about 1 million of them who get tinnitus every year.
Tinnitus is a problem that can be caused by many possible things but if one causes tinnitus, this is more likely to cause problems. The most notable, in order of incidence, causes to consider are otologic cause, cardiac cause, systemic or endochondral causes, and vascular cause.
One-third of the respondents reported that they had treated tinnitus in the last year. One-third reported that they had already obtained some sort of treatment for tinnitus and half (45%) of those reported that they had not obtained any treatment at all in the last year. Approximately 45% of those who had treated tinnitus in the past six months said they had completed treatment in the last year. One-quarter (23%) said that tinnitus was more severe in the last year. One-third reported being untreated in the last year, whereas 10% reported being treated in the last few months.
Tinnitus can be a symptom of a variety of different conditions. These conditions include hearing loss, infections, cancer, systemic disorders and other benign and malignant diseases. There are a number of treatment options for tinnitus including surgery, therapy, counseling and medications. There is no cure or specific treatment that will stop tinnitus. It is best to understand the factors and behaviors that can decrease, or in some cases increase the severity of tinnitus in order to find out which intervention will be most effective for the person with tinnitus. It is prudent to see a qualified professional who is experience in treating tinnitus to clarify which treatments will be most effective in reducing the severity of the problem.
Nearly 20% of the US population has at least one diagnosis of tinnitus. Most tinnitus can be explained by objective anatomical pathology such as vascular disease.
There seems to be a consensus in the community that tinnitus is not a serious health problem. However, it is an ever evolving medical condition and many patients with tinnitus have a great deal of concern about it. There are some possible causes of serious concern which may need medical intervention. The degree of seriousness depends on the patients' attitude to their tinnitus rather than any specific pathologies. For example, sudden changes in hearing may need urgent medical attention even if no sound is present. It is not uncommon for patients to worry about loud noises such as jet engines, high-pitched industrial machinery and aircraft flying over their house.
Despite the reported benefits of curcumin, the combined treatment with phleocoenin, the positive drug action of curcumin, and the negative effects of a high lipid dose on auditory brainstem response thresholds have been shown recently. In a recent study, findings provides further evidence that curcumin alone may have a significant negative effect on ABR thresholds.
There is a lack of recent research on tinnitus. However, research should continue in order to develop an overall framework of the management of tinnitus. The most important issues regarding intervention, for example, are to study the effectiveness of pharmacological or cognitive treatments in the prevention of tinnitus and the development and validation of appropriate questionnaires to study and monitor tinnitus symptoms before and after an intervention. Although tinnitus is a pervasive problem that is difficult to cure, pharmacological or psychological intervention options could be helpful in some cases.
family history of tinnitus cannot be excluded in subjects with persistent tinnitus. At present there is no data about its etiology. A genetic component could play a role in the susceptibility to tinnitus/tinnitus perception, but may also depend on other factors, such as the kind of hearing loss, age at onset of tinnitus, socioeconomic status, gender and/or behavioral factors.
In conclusion curcumin in combination with phosphatidylcholine is more effective than a placebo to reduce the symptoms of chronic tinnitus. Nevertheless, it is recommended that more research be conducted for confirmation of results of this clinical trial.
Curcumin is often considered as an oral adjuvant for chemotherapy with limited side effects. However, it is still unknown whether curcumin is safe for long-term use in a clinical setting. Oral administration of curcumin in a high dose will result in serious side effects, such as gastrointestinal or neurological disorders. Results from a recent paper of the present study suggest that curcuumin may be used in very limited dose after oral administration, but it will be better to prevent the side effects by co-administration with curcumol, such as curcumol or curcaverine.