To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: DG DISPATCH - AAO: Allergies May Be Culprit In Disabling Inner Ear Disorder URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/133F9E.htm Doctor's Guide September 30, 1999
By Andrew Bowser Special to DG News
NEW ORLEANS, LA -- September 30, 1999 -- Little is known about the cause of Ménière's disease, an idiopathic hearing disorder characterized by vertigo, nausea, vomiting, tinnitus and progresive hearing loss that usually begins between the ages of 20 and 50. Previous research has suggested trauma, viral infections and autoimmune factors are to blame.
New research presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation, in New Orleans, LA, suggests the inner ear may be a target of an allergic reaction that produces the symptoms of this disabling disorder.
Researchers mailed surveys to 1,490 clinic patients diagnosed with Ménière's disease; 734 responded to the survey. Of that number, 42 percent reported having airborne allergies. By comparison, in a control group of 172 randomly-selected adults who visited the same clinic for other otologic disorders, 28 percent had airborne allergies, and typically reported airborne allergy incidence rates range between 14 percent and 20 percent.
In addition, 18 percent of the Ménière's disease patients suspected airborne allergies, compared to 15 percent in the control group. Forty percent had known or suspected food allergies compared to 25 percent of controls.
Ménière's disease patients most commonly reported nasal or sinus congestion (67.8 percent), itching (48.7 percent), runny nose (47.7 percent) and excessive fatigue (39.3 percent).
Dr. M. Jennifer Derebery, of the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles, CA., suggested that Ménière's disease patients might experience a dramatic reduction in severity of ear symptoms when treated with an allergy medication or if they eliminate certain dietary products believed to impact ear problems, such as wheat, milk, corn, eggs, yeast and soy. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.