Audio therapy may avert chemo-induced hearing loss

Mice exposed to loud sound before getting chemotherapy preserve valuable cells in the inner ear

Conditioning mice with loud but not deafening sound prevents the animals from suffering hearing loss due to chemotherapy, researchers report October 15 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

The platinum-based chemo drug cisplatin and certain antibiotics including kanamycin can destroy so-called hair cells in the cochlea, the auditory part of the inner ear.