The History of Menieres Disease

Meniere's disease is named for a French doctor who first proposed that symptoms such as vertigo, temporary hearing loss and ringing could be caused by problems in the human inner ear.

Description

• Meniere's disease is an inner ear affliction that causes vertigo, ringing in the ears, intermittent hearing loss and the feeling of pressure in the ear. These symptoms come and go. At times, severe vertigo symptoms can last two to four hours. The disease affects about two out of every 1,000 people.

Prosper Meniere

• Meniere's disease is named for the Prosper Meniere, who the first to theorize that the symptoms of the disease could be linked to a problem with the inner ear. He died in 1861, one year after publishing a paper about this theory.

History of Meniere's Disease

• In the decades the followed Meniere published his 1861 paper, general understanding of the disease remained vague and many dizziness disorders were lumped together with it.

  In 1972 the American Academy of Otolarynology formally established a definition of Meniere's disease along with guidelines on how to diagnose and treat it.

  A group of doctors, researchers and advocates formed the Prosper Meniere Society in 1981 to study Meniere's disease and to spread information about it.

Causes

• Although research has confirmed that fluid build-up in the inner ear is the direct cause of the disease, no one knows for sure why this happens.

Treatment

• Proposed treatments for Meniere's disease include changes to diet, diuretic medication to reduce fluid in the body and various kids of surgery.