American Tinnitus Association
The American Tinnitus Association (ATA), the largest member-based tinnitus research funding organization in the United States, which exists to cure tinnitus through the development of resources that advance tinnitus research, strongly supports Representative Harry Teague’s efforts on behalf of America’s veterans to properly assess, treat and conduct research toward a cure for tinnitus, as outlined in H.R. 2506.
Noise is the leading cause of tinnitus, commonly referred to as “ringing in the ears.” Head and Neck trauma are the second known cause of tinnitus. Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) are some the noisiest battlegrounds yet. Roadside bombs—the signature weapon of the insurgency—regularly hit patrols, and can cause hearing loss and tinnitus instantaneously. In addition, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), one of the signature wounds of these conflicts, is producing a whole new generation of soldiers with both mild and severe head injuries that are often accompanied by tinnitus.
For millions of Americans, tinnitus becomes more than an annoyance. Chronic tinnitus can leave an individual feeling isolated and impaired in their ability to communicate with others. This isolation can cause anxiety, depression, and feelings of despair. Tinnitus affects an estimated 50 million, or more, people in the United States to some degree. Ten million to 12 million are chronically affected and one to two million are incapacitated by their tinnitus.
Tinnitus disproportionately impacts veterans from all periods of service. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs own statistics, the number of veterans who are receiving service-connected disability compensation for tinnitus has risen steadily over the past 10 years and spiked sharply in the past five. Since 2001, service-connected disability for tinnitus has increased alarmingly by 18 percent per year. In 2006, the cost to compensate veterans for tinnitus was $539 million. Based on that five-year trend, the total cost of veterans receiving service-connected disability compensation for tinnitus alone will top $1 billion by the year 2011. Veterans with tinnitus may be awarded up to a 10 percent disability, which currently equals about $120 a month.
Service members are exposed to extreme noise conditions on a daily basis during both war and peacetime. During present-day combat, a single exposure to the impulse noise of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) can cause tinnitus and hearing damage immediately. An impulse noise is a short burst of acoustic energy, which can be either a single burst or multiple bursts of energy. Most impulse noises, such as the acoustic energy emitted from an IED, occur within one second. However, successive rounds of automatic weapon fire are also considered impulse noise. According to the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health prolonged exposure from sounds at 85+ decibel levels (dBA) can be damaging, depending on the length of exposure. For every 3-decibel increase, the time an individual needs to be exposed decreases by half, and the chance of noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus increases exponentially. A single exposure at from and IED at 140+ dBA may cause tinnitus and damage hearing immediately. Experiencing tinnitus on the battlefield also compromises situational awareness, which “in theater” can very literally mean the difference between life and death.
The Role of Medical Research
Research has increased our knowledge about tinnitus, particularly within the past ten years. The scientific community now understands that tinnitus is a condition of the auditory system, with its origins in the brain, and believes that a cure is possible. Over the past ten years, the discoveries by the medical research community on tinnitus and its neurological origins have increased dramatically. The use of imaging technologies like Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) have allowed researchers to “see” tinnitus when it is present or active in a patient. Because of these discoveries we also now know that tinnitus a condition of the auditory system, not a disease of the ear, with many contributing factors to its onset, persistence and recurrence. Researchers now are developing ways to treat the origins of tinnitus, instead of treating the symptoms of tinnitus as they had done for many years before they knew about the brain’s involvement.
In the U.S. in 2008, there was only $3 million available between all public and private funding for tinnitus research. Compared with the staggering cost of simply compensating our veterans for tinnitus, this amount of research funding is woefully inadequate. We know that the existing therapies for tinnitus do not cure tinnitus. At best, they can help mitigate tinnitus. However these therapies do not work for every person afflicted with tinnitus. By continually increasing the opportunity for tinnitus research, better treatments for our veterans with tinnitus will be discovered on the road to a cure.
With so many of our brave men and women in uniform returning from combat with tinnitus, this will only continue to be an unresolved problem if we don’t work together on solutions for tinnitus. H.R. 2506 will not only provide proper assessment of tinnitus for America’s veterans but commit to researching this condition to help further the knowledge toward a cure. We offer our full support and expertise to any member of this panel who might like to know more about tinnitus.