Document Type : Letter to Editor
Author
Department of Physical Therapy for Cardiovascular/Respiratory Disorder and Geriatrics, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
Abstract
Subjective tinnitus that strikes 13–17% of people worldwide is a perceptible/audible symptom of vibration/noise, hissing, buzzing, or humming that is consciously felt/heard in patients' ear(s) and is independent to external stimuli. Doctors (ear, nose, and throat doctors) cannot identify objective pathological indicators of the symptoms in the ears of sufferers, therefore only patients can experience/suffer the above-mentioned symptoms [1,2].
Many local auditory issues are usually linked to subjective tinnitus. Tinnitus may also be a sign of the worldwide health problem, obesity, and its associated cardiovascular risk factors or problems/complications such as hyperlipidemia and hyperinsulinemia. Due to risks related to oxidative stress and systemic inflammation, obese persons had a higher prevalence of subjective tinnitus than non-obese ones [3,4].
Because patients, as well as otorhinolaryngology professionals/physicians, frequently get unhappy with inadequate results of available pharmacological treatments for subjective tinnitus, complementary therapies are recommended [5]. Lifestyle changes (diet restriction and/or increased levels of physical exertion) are one of these recommended complementary/alternative therapies for subjective tinnitus in patients with obesity and/or cardiovascular risk factors. This approach was proven to be associated with an enhancement in tinnitus symptoms (vibration/noise, hissing, buzzing, or humming) in patients with cardiovascular risk factors [3,4].
Lifestyle changes are linked to a decrease in oxidative stress, vascular or endothelial dysfunctions, the general body's systemic inflammation, and blood flow impedance/resistance. Improvements in these parameters have a great/positive impact on cochlear microangiopathy that is frequently present/reported in patients with subjective tinnitus and cardiovascular risk factors, hence the repeated complaints of annoying subjective tinnitus improve [3].
Obese people with subjective tinnitus may benefit from common lifestyle adjustments/changes, although not every sufferer will experience these benefits. For certain fat people who experience subjective tinnitus, new artificial intelligence-based technologies/programs provide a simple/cheap solution. Subjective tinnitus patients with obesity may benefit from adopting ChatGPT, one of the artificial intelligence-based language-model technologies/programs that uses natural language processing to give human-like responses to text-based inquiries/questions [6,7].
Among the conceivable applications of ChatGPT in the management of subjective tinnitus related to obesity is the recommendation of customized lifestyle adjustments. By examining the medical history of a tinnitus sufferer, physical characteristics, tinnitus duration, and lifestyle, technology (ChatGPT) enables the provision of individualized guidance on obesity-related and subjective tinnitus-related health issues like dietary restriction courses/advice, nutritional schemes, physical activity enhancement, and mental health services. Additionally, ChatGPT can track the evolution of subjective tinnitus linked to obesity over time and adjust recommendations as required. This novel strategy (ChatGPT) could lead to more effective weight loss and tinnitus improvement.
Especially with the recent documentation of the significant association between obesity-related complications (e.g peripheral arterial disease or atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, hypertriglyceridemia, and high levels of glycated hemoglobin, and history of cardiovascular diseases) and hearing loss, ChatGPT may act as a predictive role modeling for obesity-related hearing complications by giving a piece of advice on how to prevent obesity-induced hearing loss in subjective tinnitus patients. Supplying ChatGPT with the patient's data on the above-mentioned onset/history of obesity-related complications may predict the onset of hearing loss and how to prevent it.
However, there are issues/obstacles with the use of ChatGPT in the treatment of obese tinnitus patients. One potential issue/obstacle is the ethical utilization of this technology, ChatGPT, to recommend lifestyle changes to obese tinnitus patients. There are concerns about the likelihood of bias or misprocessing of the obese tinnitus patients' data, which may make sufferers unwilling to engage this technology in their medical priority. Data security for obese tinnitus patients is likewise a concern, as is the potential for compromises/hacks. Other problems that limit the use of this technology, ChatGPT, by obese tinnitus patients may be delimited to weak/slow internet speed and incorrect/harmful lifestyle recommendations/advice.
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