A new gene therapy that has the potential to revolutionize hearing loss has yielded successful results. Opal Sandy, an 18-month-old British child who was born deaf, began to hear almost perfectly 6 months after receiving the treatment.
Although hearing loss is not severe, it is a condition that can occasionally be seen in children. For this reason, researchers are constantly conducting studies that can solve hearing loss. A treatment carried out in the United Kingdom is one of them.
18 month old British baby opal sandyBefore his first birthday, he started a new gene therapy developed by researchers. Sandy, the first user of this groundbreaking treatment, now he starts to hear announced.
A working copy of the defective gene was delivered to Sandy in an operation that took just 16 minutes.
opal sandy
Sandy is a disorder that disrupts nerve impulses from the inner ear to the brain and can be caused by faulty genes.auditory neuropathyHe had a condition called “. Therefore, he was born hearing impaired, unable to hear anything.
But only 16 minutes He was able to regain the ability to hear through a surgery that lasted and was described as groundbreaking. Doctors in surgery a working copy of this gene They injected it into Sandy.
A working copy of the gene called OTOF is delivered to the cell using a harmless virus. Researchers applied this treatment to Sandy’s ear. A device called a cochlear implant, which we often see in people with hearing problems today, was placed in his left ear. Sandy was soon able to hear loud sounds, such as clapping, from her right ear.
Sandy’s treatment, See full results after about 6 months He started giving it away and allowed this little girl to hear almost perfectly from her right ear without needing a device. In fact, his hearing ability has become so good that even the whispers He started to hear it. It was also among the information received that Sandy can now say words such as “Mom” and “Dad”. When his family saw what happened, they said they couldn’t believe it.
Doctors who carried out the study from hospitals affiliated with the University of Cambridge say that the new gene therapy is very promising and A brand new era in hearing loss It means we can enter.
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