what is Meniere's disease?

If you have vertigo, tinnitus, or hearing loss, you may have Ménière's disease. According to France Touphènes, 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 vertigo.

A still mysterious disease

Anyone can have Meniere's disease, even if women are a bit more affected than men. In general, it is between 20 and 50 years old. The exact causes of its appearance are still unknown, some genes may favor it, but they have not yet been identified. This disease may be due to trauma to the inner ear, an allergy or a disruption of the immune system.

It can become a real hell for the sick. In an interview with Parisien Jacques Foenkinos, President of France Tinnitus, explains his career. After a noisy evening under the speakers in a restaurant, he is dizzy and buzzing. It will eventually close on itself: "it was the black panic, one cloître and one does not do anything any more."

Treatments to limit the crises

The symptoms of the disease are disabling and can lead to the isolation of the affected people. Meniere is not cured, but it is possible to limit symptoms and seizures. The treatments are intended to treat vertigo attacks and to limit their frequency. They are based on anti-emetics, anti-vertiginous and anxiolytics.

From Syndrome to Disease

We speak of "Meniere'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 may be confused with Meniere's disease such as otosclerosis (an inherited disease with tinnitus and progressive deafness), chronic otitis, and vestibular schwannomas (benign tumors of the vestibular and auditory nerves). To establish a diagnosis, the doctor proceeds by eliminating other possible causes of buzzing or vertigo.

The possible reduction of frequency of seizures

Evolution depends on each patient. The number of seizures varies from a few seizures a year to several seizures a week. Over time, the situation may stabilize and the crises may become more distant. Sometimes, some patients do not do it for several years. Jacques Foenkinos managed to control the disease.

He knows that stress, fatigue or emotional shock can promote seizures, at the first clues, he asks: "You have to sit up and open your eyes until the brain takes over". To better live with this disease, it is important to be followed by an ENT and possibly a psychologist. The patient must be well surrounded by his family to avoid isolating himself and to lock himself on him.