Military Audiology Short Course

MASC 2004 Abstracts

Biochemical Prevention and Treatment of Noise Induced Hearing Loss

CPT Martin Robinette

Animal research has shown that antioxidants can provide significant protection to the cochlea from traumatic noise exposure. USAARL is conducting a study on the effects of the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) to protect against noise induced temporary threshold shift in humans. The subjects in this study are given NAC or a placebo prior to being exposed to narrow band noise designed to induce a TTS. Following the noise exposure, thresholds and emissions are measured for several minutes to monitor the effects of NAC on TTS. This presentation will review the methods and results available of this study.