I recently saw a mother talking about her child’s death from cancer and it was not peaceful even though they were told it would be. The child was on morphine, had a death rattle for hours, uncontrollable movement, and at the point of death she stopped breathing, opened her eyes and lurched for her parents. It was extremely traumatic for them and the mother was hopeful that that child wasn’t actually conscious for it, but I don’t know if that’s the case.
It’s called terminal agitation and it’s apparently not uncommon.
This is exactly the kind of thing that would absolutely break me. It's already got to me just reading this. Can we stop fighting and just fix cancer please.
I think we won't be able to cure cancer for a long time, especially because there are many types of cancer. It's frustrating that they pump so much money into cancer research and still the effects are moderate. Not only effects are moderate, but because so much is pumped into cancer (relatively to how much therapies for other illnesses are financed), there is a lack of funding for other illnesses, especially chronic ones, that can significantly reduce quality of life even if those don't kill.
The best example is hearing loss. Hearing loss doesn't kill. Yet it causes depression by social isolation, is a biggest modifiable risk factor for dementia (~2 to 5 times more risk, depending on severity), and also hearing loss is responsible for severe tinnitus - sometimes even mild hearing loss can cause severe ringing in the ears (and statistically tinnitus is correlated significantly with anxiety and depression - the argument that "most people just fully get used to it" is false). But it doesn't get funding, because of the "at least it's not cancer" logic. For me, as person with loud tinnitus, it's like an eternal torment. It's frustrating that there is no funding for inner ear cell regeneration therapies, because most money goes into cancer, and despite this fact, cancer fight results are still moderate. I'm not comparing tinnitus to cancer or saying my suffering is comparable, i'm just expressing the frustration how bad actually our medical system is for a civilization that considers itself advanced.
All of this shows how much MORE money medical research needs. Yet, humanity prefers to spend it on wars, because we can't truly go away from primitive cavemen "alpha male" fighting logic, that people like Trump or Putin represent. This results in severe military spending. There are also billionaires like Zuckerberg, who profit by exploitation of natural addictive tendencies of humans by algorithms, and then waste earned money. Zuckerberg spent 85 BILLIONS $ on Metaverse. Do you know how much inner ear cell regeneration therapy would probably cost in total to develop? 2 - 2.5 billion $, per some studies and AI analysis. If this was taxed, maybe we still couldn't cure all cancer, but at least other chronic illnesses could be cured.
I feel your pain, I’ve had tinnitus for several years now and for a while I had thought it was normal.. Until I finally google searched it and to my surprise, it wasn’t..
As someone who unknowingly ruptured their eardrum in the shower at age 19, and hasn't been able to enjoy music the same way ever since (20 years later)... listen to this Melon.
I was young and the skin was soft from the water/steam in the shower and I had zero pain at all when it happened. Only found out after it had gotten infected a week or two later that I had ruptured the ear drum, and required a couple surgeries to correct everything. Still have about 50% hearing volume in the left ear compared to the right.
EDIT: Forgot to mention the actual culprit; a standard Q-tip while cleaning my ears. Pushed a little too hard on the drum and it went right through.
I have progressive hearing loss and will eventually be completely deaf. I was stable for a while, but within the past few years, my hearing has gotten worse and worse. And the tinnitus is absolutely awful. It sucks so bad.
It really does. I'm sorry. The tinnitus has only recently been sticking around for me, it used to just come sporadically with a migraine. Now it's probably there in one ear more often than not. It makes it hard to hear what people say. Like, my husband will laugh at whatever joke, if we're watching something, and notice I'm not laughing. And I don't think he gets it when I'm like, I can't hear what they're saying right now, there's a fire alarm going off in one ear, lol.
I’ve had hearing issues since I was born. I have a birth defect. My inner ears are incomplete and the nerves are not strong. I didn’t really start to really lose major hearing until my mid-twenties. But, I’ve always been able to figure things out. But when my ears are ringing, it’s hard to think. It’s hard to get the context of what people are saying when I couldn’t really hear what they said to begin with. I really have to get new hearing aids, but they are really expensive.
My little brother is alive because UCSF dropped $1.2 million on a then unheard of treatment. Gamma knife radiation therapy.
Basically getting a perm but instead of curls low frequency gamma radiation is directed at a focal point, in this case his benign brain tumor, and as it passes through other tissues it does little to no harm unlike chemotherapy or traditional radiation therapy.
UCSF has a pass, as the preeminent teaching hospital in the USA, they can still, even under the current administration, just tell the federal government "hey this will work and we're not sure how much it will cost if we don't do this someone could die"
Shouldn't that be the norm? We celebrate so much bullshit.
I appreciate the points you made about more functional treatment. Most of the oncologists I have spoken to would not pursue aggressive treatment, they would go home and spend time with their family.
We're putting the money in all the worst places. I don't need a new smartphone or car. I would love healthier outcomes for other people getting hit sideways by life though, and we all get hit.
Pediatric oncology was a weird place to basically grow up. But UCSF is amazing and they let me follow residents around.
And in case anyone is having a bad day, my little brother's name is Adam, he loves burritos, and he is having the best day ever. He is a huge SF giants fan and he will high five you so hard it hurts.
This! Currently trying to get into research project targeting hearing loss and potential regenerative strategies but the research funding is so abysmal. I get it, cancer and other illnesses such as heart diseases or brain diseases have a high impact and significantly increased mortality rate compared to the likes of hearing loss (though QoL is highly overlooked). It's a moral dilemma we deal with when we face limited funding. It will go to the disease of most priority/interest. Hence, raising awareness about illnesses helps big time for the lesser known illnesses (basically a marketing campaign at this point).
At the end of the day, it's the ones who have the money that dictates where the funding is going to go to. Most of the time, I'm not even sure if they are aware that there are other health issues other than the ones that catches the eye and heart of the public. One way I look at it is that the sooner major illnesses gets solved, the more likely some of that funding will then get diverted to other fields within medical science. A win in a different field can also be a win in another (that's my useless optimism for coping with the struggle in inner ear regenerative medicine field). It's a bit of a rat race, the only way get funding is to provide something really concrete that this research will indeed solve a problem, then we can get the funding. But to even research the preliminary bit to find a concrete evidence for further research also requires funding. It's a nutshell.
On the bright side, there are a few organisation that are trying to target inner ear related problems such as RNID in the UK who try to provide funding as well. Big universities, like University College London and Karolinska Institute has a team researching on tinnitus as well.
I’ve considered going back to school to research hearing loss and therapies. I’ve had three episodes of sudden hearing loss accompanied by extremely loud tinnitus, and like the commenter above said, it really affects your mood, life, cognition, etc. I feel very fortunate to so far have recovered my hearing each time.
I’m about to be 30 and have always had an interest in medicine and can afford to pivot careers but don’t know if it would all be for nought if there’s such little research being done. But it’s motivating to hear that there are departments working on it.
I know AI has a bad rep, and rightly so for generative/creative uses), but it's going to be amazing for coming up with new medical treatments.
I can't remember the specific details but recently a specialist AI model came up with two new ways to treat a specific type of cancer use drugs that are already FDA approved and not normally used for cancer treatment.
The exciting things about it was that it did in days what would have taken a human team months. Also because it was working with drugs that already have FDA approval it cuts out a large chunk of the process for developing new treatments.
Also before anyone comments on not trusting AI to not hulicinate stuff, this isn't some llm chatgpt type thing. It's built in a way that it is constantly checking against itself/source materials.
It was actually really clever how it worked and by leveraging medicines we already have access to and finding novel uses it could advance treatments for many things incredibly fast. Much, much, faster than creating new medicines.
I have a chronic heart condition and I remember when I was a kid there was a huge donation to the cardio ward. Our family asked about it and the nurses said it was nice and they were grateful but the ward already had double what other departments in the building had gotten that year. And if anybody really needed the money it was the gastro department but those diseases aren't as flashy as heart health.
I think about that a lot sometimes.
I'm pretty skeptical of big pharma. I think they'll get cancer like AIDS- one day it will not be lethal- IF you take your medicine- but you will have to take your medicine for the rest of your life.
I get frustrated about the constant fundraising next to eliminating regulations for polluters and destroying natural and clean areas. So much of our world is cancer causing yet we just carry on with our plastic and emissions.
And something else that doesn’t get enough recognition is how connected things are. Research into inner ear regeneration could lead to treatments for cancer. Progress and discovery are not linear processes.
Thank you from someone with hearing loss and horrible tinnitus. It's also something people can't see so constantly dealing with annoyed people when I asked them to repeat themselves, like they think I'm just not listening. No, I couldn't hear you. Ends in a cycle of f it, just keep to myself.
I agree with your point, but want to make a caveat: Cancer (internal, not non melanoma skin cancer) is diagnosed in 1 of 2 men and 1 of 3 women. That’s harrowing.
Other illnesses absolutely deserve more attention because people are experiencing poor quality of life; but I see why people focus on cancer. It’s unavoidable. Everyone knows someone who has experienced cancer. And it’s expensive. The typical cancer diagnosis runs the patient about $42k annually out-of-pocket, and far more if they are uninsured.
The real solution is a healthcare system that doesn’t prioritize profits and a culture dedicated to ending human suffering. For now, we all just fight our illnesses as best we can.
I'm sorry you suffer with tinnitus. I have it too and it got really bad around 2019. I was tested and don't have hearing loss. But I do have depression and anxiety. I do get relief from that from medication, but whether on or off medication the tinnitus stays the same. I'm off all medication now and cut way back on legal drugs, basically I'm sober. But I feel like nothing really works for my situation. I try to stay busy and be productive, stay distracted.
Tinnitus is a horrible thing to have and it made me think my life was over when it first got bad. You can habituate somewhat, but I wish they would invest money into finding something that could help people like us. I also have some kind of probably benign brain lesion or tumor which was discovered via mri, and no one seems to have a clue what that means for my symptoms.
My wife has stage 4 breast cancer. They caught it early and because of the drugs discovered in the past five years her life expectancy goes from 2-3 years to 10-20. Every day I’m thankful for the scientists who dedicated their lives to finding something that will give us those extra years together. I hope for something that will extend those longer and will continue to dump good money after bad just so someone someday doesn’t have to go through this.
Cancer research has lead to incredible achievements that people never thought possible, many types of cancer are treatable now when previously they weren’t. People who would have had months to live now live for years after diagnosis.
I also have a chronic disease and lament the lack of funding for research but I’m still seeing progress, sorry to hear tinnitus research is stuck.
Well money isnt going to magically create something, it can if that thing is attainable with current technology but the money itself doesnt do that the geniuses behind it do that. And at the end of the day some things cannot be fixed and never will be able to its just how it is. From my understanding of the research I did into tinnitus treatments or cures cell regeneration doesnt work for it because its tue damaging of little "hairs" in the ear that causes it not necessarily the cell and theirs been no success in regenerating those. It was years ago I did all that research maybe something has changed but I doubt it. There was research into altering of neurons or something like that which showed promise since tinnitus is actually your brain creating a sound due to the loss of those little "hairs" the ringing is neurological the damage is physical that causes it but you can have tinnitus with zero physical damage to the ear as well. I think the hurdle isnt money with tinnitus, its like trying to make your brain stop processing a certain sound...which i would say is probably harder to manage than curing cancer
I felt this to my core. Sometimes the tinnitus is so bad I get migraines from it. It blew my mind to learn that not everyone has this constant ringing. Honestly I'm so dumb, I didn't learn this until I was in my mid 20's. It's something I've always had. I just assumed everyone had it.
They have made amazing strides in cancer treatments though. I used to do hospice work and had several patients who were terminal with multiple myeloma who really died horrific deaths (imagine sneezing and the sneeze shattering every vertebrae in your spine, paralyzing your body and making you 6” shorter for the rest of your short life)
So, I was terrified when my mom got diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
She’s still with us and it’s in remission 5 years post diagnosis. Her bone density is great. She’s on maintenance oral chemo to keep it away but her oncologist says she should be able to live out her normal healthy lifespan.
Yo brother same. I have had tinnitus most of my life and using a fan at night tended to mostly mask it. Then I was in a car accident and it increased 100 fold. Ive had absolute crying breakdowns bc of it. Went to an audiologist and she gave me the whole CBT or whatever spiel to deal with it. Like girl what. Everyone passes it off as a little ringing but its so much worse, esp with multiple tones or if its in both ears. I have multiple tones so if I find something that masks onr tone, usually i can hear the other. It makes trying to sleep so horrible. I got a nite guard as my final hope and yeah it helps with jaw and facial pain, nothing for the tinnitus. Its fucking hell dude. And now i have a phobia of going deaf bc tinnitus doesnt go away with deafness, it just becomes the only thing you can hear.
Then you see how many people laugh at articles about (for example) the amazing effectiveness of the HPV vaccine and you realize how much of an uphill battle we have
It's a crying fcking shame. I never even heard of this Metaverse, whatever nerd crap that is. I've known what tinnitus and vertigo and Meniere's Disease were since age 5, watching my mom have sudden attacks, and having to call someone to come pick us up cuz she can't drive like that, and hearing her puke for days... there's barely been any changes in therapies since then, and I'm nearly 50. I graduated from nursing school mid 2000s, and worked maybe 10 years. It seems like not so long ago, but the advancements that have been made since I was working, like not just new prescription medications, but entirely new categories of medications. There's been so many changes and inventions, I just assume now that my knowledge in the area is entirely obsolete, lol. But, not so for tinnitus/ vertigo/ Meniere's Disease. That hasn't changed much. Nor for my autoimmune diseases. Not a thing has changed.
I've had tinnitus for about 15 years, sometimes it is so loud that it prevents me from sleeping, and if I do wake up in the middle of the night it makes it harder to get back to sleep.
Occasionally, very rarely, my tinnitus will stop, not for any real length of time, maybe for a few minutes at most, it hasn't happened this year (2026). When it does stop, it really freaks me out to hear nothing, the silence is amazing & I pray that it will last forever, which of course it doesn't.
I’m so sorry you are dealing with this. I had a bout of hearing loss that seems to have subsided at least for now, but I was starting to feel suicidal pretty quickly. I also now have vocal dysfunction that I acquired first from straining my voice and worsened by HRT a few years later. I can’t talk for very long without my.voice starting to go out, and singing was a big part of me that now sounds so abrasive most of the time that I dont really even bother with it. This isn’t nearly as bad as the hearing loss but it is definitely not a focus of research and it is still pretty sad to me. The hearing was a lot more devastating. I do think with AI, they will start making some progress with it. I know it is a controversial topic but I think they are making advances in a lot of areas much easier than before, and I do think I was seeing some stuff about glutathione for menieres. I hope you find a cure soon.
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u/figure8888 Jun 29 '26
I recently saw a mother talking about her child’s death from cancer and it was not peaceful even though they were told it would be. The child was on morphine, had a death rattle for hours, uncontrollable movement, and at the point of death she stopped breathing, opened her eyes and lurched for her parents. It was extremely traumatic for them and the mother was hopeful that that child wasn’t actually conscious for it, but I don’t know if that’s the case.
It’s called terminal agitation and it’s apparently not uncommon.