Tinnitus: Significant Discovery May Help to Cure Tinnitus

A recent study by Dr. Baraniuk of Georgetown University showed physical damage to axons in the frontal lobe of the brain that cause pain sensations and a multitude of chronic illnesses for Gulf War Era veterans, especially veterans that were deployed in the region.

I've mentioned before on this site that pain is pain regardless of whether it is perceived and interpreted in the brain or not. It is not imaginary just because damage to the brain is causing it. The damage is real. The location of the pain may not be accurate. A damaged brain can accidentally launch pain signals that really feel like the pain is in the lower back, yet there is no damage in the low back...the physical damage is in the brain.

Recently, Dr. Baraniuk and his team of researchers at Georgetown University, published findings that correlate damaged brain axons as a source of many veteran's complaints of pain from Gulf War Illness (GWI).

Tinnitus is like pain. Could damaged axons inside of the brain be causing internal ringing, hissing, popping, or thumping sounds inside of the ears of Gulf War veterans?

Since tinnitus is the number one issue that the Department of Veterans Affairs deals with we have to consider that Dr. Baraniuk may have inadvertently stumbled upon a source of the severe chronic tinnitus that many veterans suffer from. If there is a correlation between his findings and tinnitus it means that ear plugs and/or headsets really would not have helped prevent the axon damage.

So what is the source of this damage. The article suggests a number of chemical and biological exposure possibilities. What it doesn't consider is the possibility of electromagnetic and/or radio frequency radiation overexposure due to radar leakage and radar refraction that may cause charged particles to pass through the brains of service members and flip the switches in the human brain and forever alter the pain receptors. The service member/veteran may experience acute symptoms and heal or slowly debilitate over time. Dr. Baraniuk mentions that the veterans that spearheaded the Gulf War Illness movement 10 years ago are now walking with canes!

If Dr. Baraniuk begins to map the damaged axons to the actual pain areas of the body then researchers, in the future, may be able to isolate and shut off or repair the axons responsible for generating the pain or internal sound generated by the brain thus curing many people. That is my hope.

Here is the article that may lead to a Gulf War Illness or tinnitus cure one day: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0058493