12: Recent Advancements in Developing Drug Therapy for Auditory Disorders
Medical management of auditory disorders has proved to be a challenging area of study. Due to the various underlying causes of these disorders, individuals have a wide spectrum of symptoms, from temporary to permanent changes in hearing. In addition to this disparity in physical presentation, there are challenges in developing medications, such as understanding the clinical course of a patient’s symptoms as well as the difficulties in targeting the inner ear due to the presence of the blood labyrinth barrier, a barrier between the blood vessels and the inner ear. This chapter aims to review some of the recent advancements in developing treatment modalities for the medical management of auditory disorders such as sudden sensorineural hearing loss, idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss, noise-induced hearing loss, cisplatin ototoxicity, antibiotic ototoxicity, tinnitus, vertigo, and Meniere’s disease. Corticosteroids have been used extensively to alleviate symptoms in individuals with hearing loss and vestibular problems. Various medical combinations have been compared to and used in conjunction with corticosteroids with varied outcomes. Antioxidants also play a role in treating many conditions. The efficacy and safety of other off-label and novel medications were evaluated in preliminary studies based on animal models. The efficacy and safety of other off-label and novel medications were evaluated in preliminary studies based on animal models; results were varied. Future research should continue looking for novel drug candidates for the efficient treatment of auditory disorders due to the discrepancy in outcomes and incomplete understanding of the mechanisms of action of both disorders and treatments.
