Well, this disease is not fatal first of all. It’s related to the ear. I have thought to myself what makes me interested and be able to sit on this chair and type an averageof 200 words, and the answer was either science or facts. You may have noticed the trend in my posts. The reason I would like to inform the world about this disease is because one family member is suffering from it. But he/she is in the stage of bearing with it. He got past of the shock and all of a sudden vertigo, and also past the fact that he has something wrong with him/her.
To start,
what is Meniere’s disease?
It is a disease in the ear, that can cause episodes and fluctuations of hearing loss, episodes and fluctuations of vertigo, episodes and fluctuations of tinnitus(imaginary sound), episodes and fluctuations of aural fullness(you feel that your middle ear is under pressure, but its not, and meniere’s doesn’t even attack the middle ear).
Now I said episodes because they come and go, that easy. And by fluctuations I mean different intensities, some people get insane and rapid hearing loss and deafened AT THE MOMENT, and some loss hearing slowly over time, and it is a fact when I say that most patients actually never live long enough to be definitely deafened. Because the process takes too long for the human life-span to bear.
What causes Meniere’s disease?
For now the cause is unknown and is labeled as idiopathic, this means of no known cause.Yet I will list what researchers believe which might be the cause.
1. excess endolymphatic fluid in the ear, mainly cause when potassium rich endolymphatic fluid mixes with sodium rich endolymphatic fluid in the inner ear contaminating it.
2.a blood vessel in the ear pressing against a nerve
3. a virus infection
What is the treatment for Meniere's?
One of the most effective treatments, and by treatments I mean totally inexperiencing the symptoms, is lifestyle change. Eat less salt, avoid caffiene, avoid fats and avoid smoking.
Also such disease’s are most manageable when the patient can identify the trigger. For example my family member knows 2 triggers that I know of, and they are when he/she wakes and he didn’t have enough sleep, or when he’s/she’s in the bathroom where the is complete silence and no action at all and the brain then focuses on the tinnitus making the sound enlarged, volume wise.Some patients and im happily to say like my family member can manage it, and that comes during time. But we can thank god because other people have the symptoms so intense that they have no balance at all, and become TOTALLY disabeled.I have seen these people on wheel chairs, it all depends on your luck. Thank god again.
Is there research on Meniere’s?
Yes, infact, there is a huge amount and that’s where the problem is because most patients believe that there is none, but infact there is alot, and they are all trying to link it with the causes thus after that a cure can be obtained. Infact, 134 articles have been written to PubMed in 1 year! That’s over 1 article every 3 days! There is far far far far more than this, infact it’s too much for my bare hands to type, so I will post the link.http://www.menieresinfo.com/research.html
The last thing I would like to say is this disease is manageable, not fatal. You, the patient, should thank god, because I can list an almost infinite list of diseases far more severe. God can you bless you in anyway, and I think giving you this disease is better than Chronic Kidney Failure or Brain Cancer.
Fahad46, you have hit the fact that this disease is not fatal but annoying in somehow. The fact is, we wake up everyday hoping that a cure is been found and we hope to live on this hope forever see a cure for not only mienere disease but also the most annoying factor that sometimes accompany this desease in what is known as tinnitus
I have a dream that oneday a once for all a cure is found, who knows may be it is nearer than we think
I have checked the research, what they do is try to link this disease to another diseases. Because if they know the direct link, they know the mechanism of that disease (how it hits), and always remember, penicillin was discovered by accident. Life is full of possibilities. The way to live happily is to grip to these possibilities and never let them go, in other words optimism is to get most of life. I have had eye floaters, they made me scared, they made me think I’d wake one day and be blind. 3 years later, and nothing. In fact I have a hard, really hard time now finding them. I actually miss them. Because I know that mere floaters are annoying, but its better than retinal detachment. Yes, they can now evaporate these floaters with lasers now. But I like them.