New hope may just be on its way for individuals deafened by an immune system attack. This will provide an amicable solution and relief at times when the immune system, instead of guarding against diseases, go haywire and cause havoc to our systems.

It is often seen that the immune system attacks the inner ear in thousands of people each year resulting in deafness.

From News-Medical.Net:

Sometimes, with the help of steroids, some will get part or all of their hearing back, but many are left to cope with partial or total deafness without knowing the cause.

Why this happens is unexplainable.

However, new research at the University of Michigan’s Kresge Hearing Research Institute may help more patients find out quickly if steroids will help them, or if they can be spared the drugs’ harsh side effects.

The research may also extend the definition of the condition, known as autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss or AISNHL, and help more people get a firm diagnosis of what’s causing their mysterious hearing loss.

The researchers studied 63 people with rapidly progressing hearing loss in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Indiana, and 20 people with normal hearing.

Although the patients were suspected of having an auto-immune cause for their hearing loss, and all received steroids, a formal diagnosis had not been given.

The results suggest that steroid treatment can provide invaluable insights for regaining the hearing ability via a direct test for antibodies, as per senior author Thomas Carey, Ph.D., a professor and distinguished research scientist at the U-M Medical School and department chair in the School of Dentistry.