Thomas Brutnell is the vice president of Gateway Biotechnology, a company developing research and development pipelines for drugs based on repurposed FDA-approved drugs and plant natural products. One of the projects led by Thomas Brutnell involves the development of a compound for the prevention and treatment of noise-induced hearing loss using a drug isolated from a Chinese medicinal herb. Gateway Biotechnology was recently awarded a patent for this product that is now moving toward clinical trials.
Noise-induced hearing loss affects over 25 million Americans, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Preventing NIHL can be as simple as limiting your exposure to loud noises, but it’s hard to tell when a loud noise becomes harmful versus when it’s just uncomfortable.
Whenever possible, you should try to wear hearing protection in noisy work environments. If you have to work with equipment that produces noise in excess of 85 decibels, take a break from the noise at least every 30 minutes. If you have no method for accurately measuring sound levels, 85 decibels is about the loudness of a running diesel truck.
A space that many people don’t suspect can lead to NIHL is the gym. Gym/cycling classes can sometimes reach decibel levels as high as 110, so you should try to aim for times when the gym has fewer members and no active classes.
Noise-induced hearing loss affects over 25 million Americans, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Preventing NIHL can be as simple as limiting your exposure to loud noises, but it’s hard to tell when a loud noise becomes harmful versus when it’s just uncomfortable.
Whenever possible, you should try to wear hearing protection in noisy work environments. If you have to work with equipment that produces noise in excess of 85 decibels, take a break from the noise at least every 30 minutes. If you have no method for accurately measuring sound levels, 85 decibels is about the loudness of a running diesel truck.
A space that many people don’t suspect can lead to NIHL is the gym. Gym/cycling classes can sometimes reach decibel levels as high as 110, so you should try to aim for times when the gym has fewer members and no active classes.
