Just to share for those who got T due to sensorineural hearing loss, a major breakthrough was announced only this year 2009 around March that UK University of Sheffield scientists supported by RNID have for the 1st time in human history re-grown human hearing nerve. They managed to do so in the lab .
This is a major breakthrough because -
(1) all along , for years, conventional medicine is that once ear nerve (largely referred to as hair cells) are damaged, then human will lost hearing forever.
(2) But around 20 years ago, 2 teams of scientists discover birds' hair cells can regenerate. So "there is no deaf bird".
(3) Since then we have many teams of scientists working to regenerate human hair cells.
(4) But all along, scientists around the world have only grown and experiment with animals' hearing nerve.
(5) With the human hearing nerve available now, more directly-relevant research , in the form of stem-cell theraby, gene theraby , new testing on human hearing hair cells and hearing nerve can be carried out.

If you wish to encourage RNID to continue supporting Sheffield, do contact RNID's Laura Clark
Senior Major Gifts Executive
19-23 Featherstone Street
London
EC1Y 8SL
Tel. 020 7296 8153
www.rnid.org.uk