A potential cure for permanent deafness caused by loud noise exposure, infection and toxic drugs has been found by scientists.

Until now, it has been understood that the damage to sensory hair cells which causes the loss of hearing was irreversible and incurable. This type of deafness is often suffered by musicians and DJs after prolonged loud noise exposure.

However, scientists have found a drug codenamed LY411575 which enables the regeneration of the crucial sensory hair cells. In tests the drug successfully restored hearing to mice that had been deafened by loud noise.

Reported in neuroscience journal Neuron, this discovery suggests that the same may be possible in humans, although more research is still needed.

Drug LY411575 works by suppressing proteins called Notch, which prevent stem cells from becoming new sensory hair cells within the cochlea, the auditory area of the inner ear.

According to Deafness Research UK, over one million Britons are exposed to potentially damaging noise levels in the workplace and 87 percent of deafness at all degrees of severity results from damage to the sensitive hair cells within the cochlea.

“We’re excited by these results because they are a step forward in the biology of regeneration and prove that mammalian hair cells have the capacity to regenerate,” lead researcher Dr. Albert Edge of Harvard Medical School commented.

Although the study is in the first stages of development, the study has great significance as hearing loss affects 250 million worldwide. Anything that takes scientists a step further to helping hearing loss sufferers is a positive development.