Ménière’s disease causes attacks of dizziness and ringing. For the sick, it can become unlivable. Ultimately, it is possible to better control the onset of seizures and reduce symptoms with certain treatments.
If you suffer from dizziness, ringing in the ears, and hearing loss, you may have Ménière’s disease. According to France Tinnitus, there would be in Europe between 20 and 200 cases per 100,000 people. It can be confused with other conditions that affect the ear or cause dizziness.
A still mysterious disease
Anyone can get Ménière’s disease, although women are more affected than men. In general, it occurs between 20 and 50 years. We still do not know the exact causes of its appearance, certain genes could promote it, but they have not yet been identified. This disease can be due to trauma to the inner ear, an allergy or an imbalance in the immune system.
It can become hell for the sick. In an interview with Parisian, Jacques Foenkinos, the president of France Acouphènes, explains his career. After a loud evening under loudspeakers in a restaurant, he became dizzy and buzzing. He will end up closing in on himself: “it was a black panic, we shut ourselves up and we do nothing more.”
Treatments to limit seizures
The symptoms of the disease are disabling and can lead to isolation of those affected. Meniere cannot be cured but it is possible to limit the symptoms and attacks. Treatments are aimed at treating vertigo attacks and limiting their frequency. They are based on anti-emetic, anti-dizziness and anxiolytics.
From syndrome to disease
We speak of “Ménière’s syndrome”, when an infection causes the same symptoms as the disease and they disappear as soon as the infection is cured. Several other conditions can be confused with Ménière’s disease such as otosclerosis (hereditary disease with tinnitus and progressive deafness), chronic ear infections or even vestibular schwannomas (benign tumors of the vestibular and auditory nerves). To establish a diagnosis the doctor proceeds by eliminating other possible causes of ringing or dizziness.
The possible reduction in the frequency of attacks
The evolution depends on each patient. The number of seizures varies from a few seizures per year to several seizures per week. Over time, the situation may stabilize and the crises become less frequent. Sometimes some patients don’t do it for several years. Jacques Foenkinos has succeeded in controlling the disease.
He knows that stress, fatigue or emotional shock can promote crises, at the first clues, he asks: “you have to sit down and open your eyes until the brain takes over.” To live better with this disease, it is important to be followed by an ENT and possibly a psychologist. The patient must be well surrounded by his relatives to avoid isolating himself and closing in on him.
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