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Groundbreaking Research Could Help Troops, Farmers and Other Avoid Hearing Loss

A researcher at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine wants to launch a pre-emptive strike against the battlefield threat of hearing loss.

Dr. Kathleen Campbell secured a five-year $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance her decades of research in hearing loss prevention and treatment. Dr. Campbell says a truly natural medication could be a game changer.

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Dr. Campbell says war movies can't begin to offer a true representation of how loud the battlefield can be but the military has noise issues outside of war zones.

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While D-met is being tested with prevention in mind, it can also be used to treat someone in the battlefield who has suffered hearing loss. It could also prove helpful for swat teams, farmers, after car airbag deployment, loud concerts, fireworks or emergency work.

The Veterans' Administration and Defense Department have previously invested in Dr. Campbell's research. She says the DOD and VA lose $2 to $4 billion dollars a year on troops battling hearing loss and that's why they've taken such interest in her research.

Dr. Campbell has had to enter the realm of business, with the FDA requiring her to develop a biotech company and seek investors to get the product approved for use.

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