Two children who were born deaf can now listen and dance to music after undergoing ground-breaking gene therapy. The treatment, given as an infusion into the ear, works by replacing faulty DNA which causes a type of inherited deafness known as DFNB9. Researchers hope a similar approach could help in other congenital cases of deafness – which account for 60 per cent of the 430 million cases worldwide.
Which should be a genuine 'good news story' but I bet there are those waiting in the wings to throw cold water on it for ideological purposes.
In the world-first gene-therapy trial, five children in China – two girls and three boys, all around three years old – gained hearing in both ears. All five were able to hear and speak words and locate where a sound was coming from.But two showed more advanced improvements and were even able to respond to music, which has more complex sound signals. The latest results, reported in Nature Medicine, build on work the team carried out two years ago when they treated children in one ear.
I'm usually pretty good at seeing someone else's point of view even if I don't personally agree with it, but I cannot fathom the mindset of someone who not only refuses to acknowledge that their child is disabled, but actively resists attempts to fix the problem.
And why is it just this particular disability? Why is there no corresponding 'blind culture', or 'wheelchair culture'?
The study's main author, Professor Zheng-Yi Chen, said: 'The results from these studies are astounding.
'We continue to see the hearing ability of treated children dramatically progress and the new study shows added benefits of the gene therapy when administrated to both ears, including improvements in speech recognition in noisy environments.'
Professor Chen, who is also an associate professor of otolaryngology – head and neck surgery – at Harvard Medical School in the US, added: 'Our ultimate goal is to help people regain hearing no matter how their hearing loss was caused.'
I wish you the best of luck with that, and I hope you're prepared for more than just the medical complications and roadblocks you'll face.
Its a bit like these Lard Asses who say that their bodies are great. They can have their opinions but it must be up to the deaf person if they want it or not.
ReplyDeleteThey will need to weigh up the benefits of living on disability and not having to work because being deaf is discriminated against and the benefits of being able to hear, music, TV and just being able to talk to people.
Apparently to some people being deaf isn't something that needs to be cured as they think it is natural. Which it is in a way but so is bleeding to death and people want that stopped.
"Apparently to some people being deaf isn't something that needs to be cured as they think it is natural. Which it is in a way but so is bleeding to death and people want that stopped."
ReplyDeleteIt's worse than that, they think it's a culture all of its own. Which makes me wonder if deafness is the disorder that needs treating or if mental illness should be first.