Ménière's Disease
Topic Overview
What is Ménière's disease?
Ménière's disease is a problem in the inner ear that affects hearing and balance. The disease is characterized by attacks that occur suddenly and without warning. The cause of Ménière's disease is unknown.
What are the symptoms of Ménière's disease?
During an attack, people with Ménière's disease experience:
Low-pitched roaring, ringing, or hissing in the ear (tinnitus).
Hearing loss, which may be temporary or permanent.
Vertigo, which is the feeling that the person or the surroundings are spinning or whirling when there is no such actual motion.
Often, a feeling of pressure or fullness in the ear.
Who is affected by Ménière's disease?
Ménière's disease is most likely to develop between ages 20 and 60. It occurs most often in people who are in their 50s. Ménière's disease occurs with equal frequency in men and women.
What happens during an attack?
The vertigo that occurs with an attack of Ménière's disease is so severe that it often results in nausea and vomiting. To reduce this feeling, a person having an attack often wants to lie perfectly still until it subsides. Ménière's disease usually occurs in only one ear at a time. However, often the disease eventually develops in the other ear.
What course does Ménière's disease take?
Most people with Ménière's disease have repeated attacks over a period of years. In general, attacks occur suddenly and without warning. Attacks usually increase in frequency during the first few years of the disease, but then decrease in frequency along with deterioration of hearing.1
How is Ménière's disease treated?
Treatment of Ménière's disease is mostly limited to reducing the severity of the vertigo until the attack ends. For some people, it may be possible to reduce the frequency of attacks by eating a diet low in salt and using a medication to get rid of excess fluid in the body (diuretic).
Medications that affect the inner ear, called vestibular suppressants, can be used to reduce the whirling or spinning sensations of vertigo. Medications that reduce nausea and vomiting (antiemetics) can also be effective in relieving those symptoms.