Coping with...MENIERE'S DISEASE

This progressive inner-ear condition affects balance and hearing

- Gill

Ménière's affects people of all ages and is a long-term condition. Around 7-10% have a family history. The cause is unknown and many factors may be involved, including increased fluid pressure in the ear's endolymphatic sac and allergic factors damaging the inner ear.

Early symptoms include acute, unpredictable attacks of vertigo (severe dizziness), nausea and vomiting, tinnitus, increasing deafness and a feeling of pressure in the ear. Ménière's damages the inner ear hair cell receptors that fire spontaneously, sending disorganised signals to the brain. Low-frequency hair cells are damaged first, causing a rumbling, low-frequency tinnitus - noticing a change may be a warning of attacks, which vary between people and over time, lasting from a few minutes to 24 hours. Remission between attacks varies from days to months or even years, making it unpredictable. Repeated episodes damage the delicate inner ear structures, resulting in declining hearing levels over time. Usually only one ear is affected, but some sufferers develop it in both ears.