Dr. Konstantina Stankovic

we can actually get inner ear fluid and we can study it and we can see differences.

So I think that's a promising direction on the horizon.

Another diagnostic possibility is genetic testing.

That's relevant for people in whom there is a family history of hearing loss.

But today, when we test for known deafness-causing genes, it comes back with a definitive answer only in 50% of people.

And in another 50%, it often lists lots of variants of unknown significance.

They are so common that we even use an acronym, VUSs.

And some people will have tens, if not hundreds, of these variants of unknown significance.

So what do you make of that?

You just shrug your shoulders.

And at this point, we say, well, we don't know.

But now, one exciting research direction that we are pursuing with other investigators at Stanford and in collaboration with Google is to use AI to help us figure out which of these variants of unknown significance is actually significant.

And by using those tools, we can establish the diagnosis in 80% of people.

So...

Now that's for hearing loss, and you really asked about tinnitus.

But this is really to tell you that both of these terms are huge umbrella terms, and it's been super frustrating not having the ability to establish precise diagnosis to guide therapy.

So tinnitus is an even bigger black box.

Yeah, it's the latter that they need to really be evaluated.

And what studies have shown and systematic reviews and meta-analysis that none of this supplementation makes a difference for tinnitus.

It's a shame.