New medical breakthrough for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

St. Jude Researcher Brandon Cox says taking the medicines needed comes with a risk. "That can happen by chemo drugs and there is some antibiotics that if you take over a long period of time at a high dose that can cause hearing loss as well," says Dr.Cox.

Permanent becomes temporary when researchers work around the clock to come up with protective strategies during treatment.

There was a breakthrough in the lab. There was a discovery of a short window when hearing cells can regenerate and that has never been discovered before.

"Last year we wouldn't have thought that was possible. It's very new and we're working very hard to get it out there to the entire hearing field," says Dr. Cox.

In addition Dr.Cox says, "We're just getting to the point where we can publish these exciting findings. So our lab, my project is specifically working on how to reverse that damage."

There are multiple layers of research underway at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. One tool is imaging, understanding exactly what's going wrong inside the body during treatment.

Dr. Robert Ogg says there have been breakthroughs on the imaging side.

"In the last ten years, there have been great breakthroughs on the imaging side with using MRI to study how the brain works in different conditions," says Dr.Ogg.

It cost $1.5 million per day to operate the St.Jude Children's Research Hospital. You can help by becoming a Partner in Hope now. Call 1-800-942-8771, or click here to donate.

Via WTKR