Turning Down Tinnitus: Giving Veterans their Peace and Quiet

For many people, it’s a temporary annoyance – the high-pitched ringing in the ears that comes after working with a power saw, a leaf blower or perhaps most commonly, the unwanted souvenir from a concert. But while tinnitus may be a transient hassle for many, there is another group of people for which it’s a permanent and debilitating phenomenon. Military personnel stationed in the warzones of Iraq and Afghanistan experience the “phantom sound” of tinnitus much like civilians do, but for troops, the perpetual exposure to roadside bombs, gunfire, and rocket-propelled grenades exacerbates the condition to the point of no return. Wayne State researchers Anthony Cacace, Ph.D., and Jinsheng Zhang, Ph.D., are working to change that with two potential treatments for chronic tinnitus. Different by design but united with a common goal of suppression, these potential treatments pose the possibility of curing an injury that stays with soldiers long after other battle wounds have healed