Meniere's Disease - What is it?

Meniere's disease is a disorder that emerges from the inner ear. The name Meniere is taken from the French physician, Prosper Meniere who described this condition.

People suffering from Meniere's disease usually experience vertigo attacks, tinnitus or ringing in the ears, a feeling of pressure in the ear and some intermittent hearing loss.

Typically, an Meniere's Disease attack usually starts with a feeling of fullness in a ear. Hearing fluctuation or changes in tinnitus may also precede an attack.

A Meniere's attack normally involves a severe case of vertigo, where the patient experiences spinning, imbalance and vomiting. On an average, an attack could last for one to three hours. Many patients indicate that after such an attack, they feel extremely exhausted and require to sleep for hours.

Extreme sufferers can also be disabled by having a fall or collapsing. More often than not, these attacks occur without any warning. New sufferers of this disease often complain of sudden attacks and are usually caught unawares. Those patients who have suffered for a while could, through experience, foresee an attack coming based on sudden pressure in the ear, increased tinnutus and slight dizziness.

Normally these attacks occur in clusters - patients report having few attacks over a short period of time. They then go on for years without having any symptoms or attacks.