Category: Meniere’s Disease Triggers & Causes

Categories
Meniere's Disease Triggers & Causes Meniere's Disease and Nutrition

Magnesium Links to Meniere’s Disease

Why Magnesium is important when you suffer with the symptoms of Meniere’s disease

Magnesium links to Meniere’s Disease whether it be deficiency or the benefits of supplementation are pretty well documented. It appears to be an important mineral for sufferers to consider

Magnesium links to Meniere's Disease - food sources of magnesium

Below we look at just how important magnesium is for cellular and internal balance and most importantly how important a factor it is for those suffering with Meniere’s.

In 2015 a paper titled ‘Optimal Management of Meniere’s Disease’ was published in PubMed by ‘Therapeutics and clinical risk management’ in Auckland NZ.

It was stated:

“At our institution, Ménière’s disease is treated as a cerebrovascular [meaning of or relating to the brain and its blood vessels] disorder. Migraine prophylactic medications, magnesium supplementation, sodium restriction, migraine trigger elimination, diuretics, anticoagulants, and antihypertensives are among the treatments used”

The ENT department University of Milan stated in a 2004 paper that they included sulfate magnesium i.v to treat vertigo and dizziness for people with Meniere’s Disease and PPV.

A 2009 article in ‘Integrative Medicine Journal’ reported on a trial in which:

“a series of intravenous magnesium sulfate infusions appeared to be beneficial in 14 of 18 patients with Ménière’s disease.”
 
 

Magnesium and Nystagmus

Nystagmus, the flickering of the eyes or eyesight is a common symptom of ‘late stage’ Meniere’s. There are several studies linking magnesium deficiency to this.

In a study in the Netherlands in 1993, nystagmus was linked to hypomagnesemia (a deficiency of magnesium in the blood). In a paper published in 1981, ‘The manifestations of magnesium deficiency’ nystagmus was quoted as one symptom. Researchers in Switzerland in a paper for the journal ‘Neurology’ concluded that the nystagmus in a patient “may have resulted from severe hypomagnesemia, possibly associated with thiamine deficiency.

 
Several other studies can be found on cited on NIH ( as can the above)  all suggesting the same thing.
 
Not everyone with Meniere’s suffers from Nystagmus and not everyone with Nystagmus suffers from Meniere’s disease. Given that one cause of magnesium deficiency is diuretics, especially the long term use of diuretics, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to hypothesize that Nystagmus, in at least some Meniere’s sufferers, is a direct result of magnesium depletion caused by the very medication used to combat Meniere’s symptoms.
 
Between January 2004 and October 2012, there was only one case reported to the FDA of diuretics directly causing nystagmus, out 3146 cases caused by other drugs.  So ‘officially’ this is an unlikely scenario. The focus on studies or papers discussing this subject is on ‘ototoxicity‘, meaning something toxic to the ear.
 
The dots are not being joined to the extent where magnesium depletion as a result of diuretic use is considered. I think that says it all when the medical community deals with Meniere’s. It seems the bigger picture is rarely taken into account.
 
If you are a long term Meniere’s sufferer, a long term user of diuretics and a sufferer of Nystagmus, some light bulbs must surely be flashing in your head with this information. Even more so if you have reduced or eliminated your symptoms through diet and supplementation.
 
Magnesium has been used for tinnitus treatment. In a 2011 study published in the International Tinnitus Journal, ‘Study examining magnesium-dependent tinnitus.’ It concluded that magnesium could lessen the severity of tinnitus. suggesting deficiency may be a contributing cause.
 
The many functions of magnesium include: important in neuromuscular contractions/relaxations, regulates acid/alkaline balance, helps regulate body temperature, activates enzymes needed for metabolism of carbohydrates and amino acids, needed for lipid and protein metabolism, cofactor for many enzymes in energy metabolism. ( Read Metabolism and Meniere’s Disease here and Gluten links to Meniere’s here.
Over 300 enzymatic reactions rely on magnesium to happen.
 

A study published in BMC Bioinformatics found that your body has 3,751 magnesium binding sites. This indicates that magnesium benefits are far greater than previously imagined. Because your body requires and uses magnesium for so many different functions, you can quickly become low in magnesium especially if you are not consuming enough high magnesium content foods.

Magnesium also plays a role in your body’s detoxification processes and therefore is important for helping to prevent damage from environmental chemicals, heavy metals and other toxins.

Given how common mercury from amalgam fillings is the probable root cause of Meniere’s, this makes magnesium even more valuable. One of the body’s most powerful antioxidants, glutathione, sometimes referred to as  “the master antioxidant,” needs magnesium for its synthesis.

Clearly Magnesium is not a mineral that should be ignored or taken too lightly. It is vitally important for human health.

Magnesium and Vestibular Migraine

Many, though not all Meniere’s patients suffer from migraine. There seems much grey area between Meniere’s and vestibular migraine as they may be variants of the same thing. Both involve vertigo and other shared symptoms. Clinically, it may be that VM is considered a central problem, while MD a peripheral problem yet it is accepted that there is at least an association between the two.

In migraines themselves, Magnesium supplementation has been found to help relieve symptoms.

The American Migraine Foundation suggest taking a 400–500 milligram (mg) supplement of magnesium oxide daily to prevent migraines.

An Adelaide university study states that. “Research on magnesium has found it to be a potentially well-tolerated, safe and inexpensive option for migraine prevention, while it may also be effective as an acute treatment option for headaches including migraines, tension- type headaches and cluster headaches, particularly in certain patient subsets. Magnesium may be used for the treatment of acute migraines”

reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507271/

Meniere’s Help readers experiences with magnesium and Meniere’s disease?

 What are our readers experiences with magnesium and Meniere’s?  Below are some extracts from Meniere’s sufferers’ emails to Meniere’s Help (used with permission ) :
 
“Dear Mike,
 
Thank you for your very informative book. I am a Meniere’s sufferer. My symptoms began in 2010.  A biochemist friend suggested I take a magnesium supplement and the attacks of vertigo stopped altogether for about a month.  But after a month, dizzy spells minus the vertigo started and continue.  Though disturbing,  these incidents are far less violent and are shorter in duration than before taking the magnesium.
 
After reading your book, I made an appointment to see a chiropractor in our area who specializes in chiropractic neurology because I know I have neck issues and perhaps spine issues (I broke my femur 4 months ago and a patched together with a rod, bolt and screw. The bone has healed.).
 
The chiropractor I will see is the President of the American Chiropractic Neurology Board. He and his team utilize chiropractic neurology, nutrition, Erchonia low level light laser therapy, and detoxification programs.  They are familiar with the supplements to help improve immune response.
Thank you for your encouraging book. Regards
Janet”
 
“Hello Mike,
 
The Dr went over every page with her. She was so deficient in magnesium she should have had a heart attack. She was deficient in almost every vitamin and mineral, her mitochondria were very damaged and the life (energy) within them was fading. Her omega 3’s and 6’s were all messed up. Trans fats were extremely high and the toxins (mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium, aluminum) were off the chart.
 
She told her to get off of ALL processed food and trans fats. After a week of the supplements all the symptoms disappeared. She did have one little issue when she took some antibiotics.[antibiotics deplete magnesium – see below]
 
She started having attacks every other day again. She threw away the antibiotics, the attacks stopped and the next day her ears were completely clear again. No ringing, fullness or anything.  Interesting!
So there it is,, we have our lives back. Thank you for contacting me (2014)
 

Update 2016:

Hello Mike,
Yes, Crystal is doing great. She hasn’t had an attack in about 1 1/2 years. Her progress was slow as far as the fullness and ringing goes but the attacks stopped completely in about 3 months. I think she had a total of 3 more attacks over a 3 month period after starting the supplements.
She also had chronic fatigue and didn’t even realize it since she was so sick with menieres.
 
She is still taking the supplements but is taking many of them every other day and still does fine. The only problem she seems to have is trouble absorbing magnesium. She can tell when her magnesium gets low because her hands start hurting and in a day or two her ears will start ringing and she will go mostly deaf for about a day. She is fine after that as long as she gets her magnesium up. We really don’t understand that part.
 
Another fun part of this is after a year she went back to the dr who had told her she would be disabled the rest of her life. Crystal walked in her office mostly well. The dr was so surprised she listened to Crystal’s story and couldn’t deny the results. She said she didn’t understand but that Crystal was obviously helped by the supplements.
 
Thank you for asking about her. I’m sure she would be very happy to share her story with others on your blog.
 
Thank you,
Becky”
 
One of the most powerful components of the supplement regimen that has been so successful in keeping sufferers symptom free over the past 12 year is a grape seed extract with flavonoids, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium and zinc.
 

“Hi Mike,

Thanks for your email.  At the moment the symptoms have all but gone away (just a bit of ‘brain fog’ from time to time, no dizziness).

I have been taking a Ginkgo supplement twice daily, plus an array of vitamins and minerals, based on the hair analysis results and the recommendations from the lab.

I have also been to yoga once a week, and seeing an osteopath, as it was found I had a lot of tension, and not much mobility in the neck.

I have attached the hair analysis results, feel free to share this information with anyone who may be able to use it.    The lab recommended I take B6 , Chromium and Manganese, and zinc, iron,magnesium, Vit C, Vit E.

Hopefully the dizzies will stay away!

Be well,

Ottilie”

Magnesium deficiency

Why would someone be deficient in Magnesium and what should you do and not do to make sure you are getting adequate amounts?

According to the WHO (World Health Organization) in 2009, an estimated 75% of Americans have daily magnesium intakes less than the RDA, with similar figures estimated for most industrialized nations. ( It is important to note that RDAs are a ‘MINIMUM’ recommendation)

You can raise your Magnesium levels by eating more magnesium rich foods ( see below ), using magnesium salt baths, magnesium oils and magnesium supplements.

The story doesn’t end there though. Understanding how magnesium is absorbed and excreted is important. Magnesium can be eliminated as waste through the gastrointestinal “GI” tract (the stomach, intestines and colon) and is excreted through the kidneys.

To maintain homeostasis (balance), several systems of the body work together like an internal thermostat. In healthy individuals, two kidneys filter all of the blood in the human body. All of the contents of the blood, including nutrients, ultimately pass through the kidneys’ filters and can be excreted out of the body at any time.

If we don’t take magnesium “in” we obviously can’t use it, but in a similar way, if we send it “out” after we take it in, we still can’t use it! Problems arise when not enough magnesium is absorbed by the GI Tract, or too much of a nutrient is filtered out of the blood.

Certain disorders and medications such as diuretics and antibiotics can disrupt the healthy functioning of the kidneys. Under such influences, a nutrient such as magnesium is excreted rather than reabsorbed.

Digestive factors unique to the individual can also influence the amount of magnesium absorbed in the GI tract. These include the ability to breakdown magnesium containing foods in the stomach, and the ability to absorb magnesium in the small intestine. Aging, disease, stress, and illness can also reduce magnesium absorption.

Some conditions known to impact magnesium availability include:

  • Individual variations in amount of stomach acid, commonly reduced in older adults
  • Excessive use of alcohol
  • Crohn’s disease, celiac sprue, and any disorder of the digestive or intestinal function
  • Kidney disorders
  • Genetic magnesium absorption disorders
  • Stress, surgery, and chronic disorders such as diabetes
  • Diarrhea and vomiting

Vomiting with constant vertigo is a regular fact of life with the worst symptoms of Meniere’s. Stress and alcohol are known Meniere’s triggers. Food allergies and in particular gluten intolerance affect the digestive and intestinal functions and are linked to Meniere’s Disease in some people.

*Medications that deplete magnesium:

  1. Antacids
  2. Anti-inflammatories (including Prednisone, commonly used for Meniere’s)
  3. Antibiotics (including gentamicin, commonly used for Meniere’s)
  4. Birth control medications ( see endocrine disorders and Meniere’s)
  5. Cardiovascular medications
  6. Diuretics (including Hydrochlorothiazide, commonly used for Meniere’s)

*Source: University of Maryland Medical Center

One of the biggest culprits in the depletion of magnesium is phosphates found in sodas. Researchers in the The Journal of Nutrition have noted that high intake of sodas have placed many members of the population at risk for magnesium deficiencies. Consuming these beverages with food, as well as common drinks such as coffee and tea, ultimately reduces the amount of magnesium available to the body.

Add the sugars or worse, the toxic artificial sugars in diet sodas to the above information, consider the amount of sodas consumed all over the world and you get a good example of the bigger picture of what the modern diet is doing to human health.

As seen above magnesium plays a vitally important role in so many of the body’s processes, it is important that you know where you stand when it comes to getting enough of this mineral on a daily basis.

If you are not getting enough, finding a high-quality supplement, particularly one that is combined with calcium may be a wise move. These two nutrients work together synergistically to benefit the entire body. It has to be the correct type of calcium and the balance needs to be correct as calcium can also compete with magnesium.

If you suspect you are low in magnesium one of the best ways to consume this mineral is through organically bound magnesium, found in whole foods.  Green leafy vegetables and especially chlorella are rich in chlorophyll.

Chlorophyll, which enables plants to capture solar energy and convert it into metabolic energy, has a magnesium atom at its center. Without magnesium, in fact, plants could not utilize the sun’s light energy.

Chlorophyll is like a plant’s version of human hemoglobin as it shares a similar structure but has magnesium plugged in the middle rather than iron ( as in hemoglobin ).

Green leafy vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard are excellent sources of magnesium, as are some beans, nuts and seeds, like almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds.

Avocados are also a good source. Juicing your vegetables is an excellent option to ensure you’re getting enough in your diet. (see superfoods for more on chlorophyll, chlorella benefits for Meniere’s and green juicing)

Other foods that are also high in magnesium include: salmon, coriander, cashews, goat cheese and artichokes.

Drinking water can be an important source of magnesium, especially ‘hard water’.

The ‘superfood’ Moringa is packed with Magnesium. According to Dr Oz, adding 3 tablespoons of Moringa Powder to your daily diet will provide 37% of your daily Magnesium needs. Moringa is also rich in B vitamins that help magnesium absorption.

We constantly state throughout the Meniere’s Help website that avoiding heavily refined, processed foods and junk foods is essential. This is confirmed in terms of magnesium deficiency in the 2003 Clinical Biochemist Review article ‘Magnesium Metabolism and its Disorders’ that states:

“Refining or processing of food may deplete magnesium content by nearly 85%“. Importantly, it goes on to state that “cooking, especially boiling of magnesium-rich foods, will result in significant loss of magnesium.“

If you found this article useful Click here to support Meniere’s Help paypal.me/menieres

Related articles:

Vitamin C and Meniere’s Disease
Vitamin D and Meniere’s Disease

By Mike Spencer
Founder of Menieres-Help.Com – Supporting sufferers since 2004
Researcher & Author of Managing Meniere’s Disease and The Need for Balance – Dealing with the Causes of Meniere’s

Help other Meniere’s sufferers. What are your experiences with Meniere’s and magnesium? Tell us all about it in the comments box below or email Mike at meniereshelp@gmail.com

References/Further reading:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30717210/

Categories
Meniere's Disease Triggers & Causes Meniere's Disease and Nutrition

Food Allergies and Meniere’s Disease

How food allergies and intolerances may affect the symptoms of Meniere’s Disease

Do a simple search for studies on food allergies & intolerances related to Meniere’s Disease and a relatively long list will be pulled up.

One important thing to note perhaps is that most reference studies from the same source: American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery – (Derebury), in which it is suggested that as many as 30% of Meniere’s sufferers may have food allergies that at least contribute to their condition.

It is hypothesized that allergies may contribute in 3 possible ways:

  1. The endolymphatic sac may be the “target organ” of mediator released from systemic inhalant or food reactions.
  2. Deposition of circulating immune complex may produce inflammation and interfere with the sac’s filtering capability.
  3. A predisposing viral infection may interact with allergies in adulthood and cause the endolymphatic sac to decompensate, resulting in endolymphatic hydrops (Derebery, 1996).

Dr Timothy Haines, a long time writer on Meniere’s doesn’t have much confidence in these theories, stating that a. Hydrops may not necessarily be the key factor in the condition’s pathology and b. In his experience immunotherapy for allergy, is almost never a curative treatment for Meniere’s disease.

So lets look at some facts and experiences of sufferers who have contacted us over the years.

In 2000 the study “Allergic management of Meniere’s disease: an outcome study”, published in the official journal of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, stated the following (excerpt summary):

“The effect of allergy immunotherapy and elimination of suspected food allergens was evaluated in patients with Meniere’s disease.  113 patients treated with desensitization and diet showed a significant improvement from pretreatment to posttreatment in both allergy and Meniere’s symptoms.  Hearing was stable or improved in 61.4%. Patients with Meniere’s disease can show improvement in their symptoms of tinnitus and vertigo when receiving specific allergy therapy. The inner ear may be the target, directly or indirectly, of an allergic reaction.”

In the 1996 Derebery paper in the same journal, it states interestingly that:

” Meniere’s disease, although idiopathic by definition, has been ascribed to a variety of causes, which more recently include autoimmune factors. Interest in the role of allergy in Meniere’s disease has also increased. Studies from this institution and elsewhere provide evidence that allergy and immunologic factors play a role in Meniere’s disease in at least some patients“

The aim of Meniere’s Help has always been two fold. Firstly, giving you the information you need to take appropriate action therefore enabling your immune system to deal with the inflammation, balance your various body systems and allow you to live symptom free, regardless of your root cause. And secondly identifying your particular root cause or causes and eliminating them from your life, and therefore free yourself from Meniere’s completely.

In our formative years we had multiple thousands contact us who were ultimately able to live symptom free. In latter years with our focus very much on root causes and contributing triggers we have had many more who were able to rid themselves of Meniere’s completely. It all comes down to knowledge and using that knowledge for your particular case.

It has to be said that it seems at first glance that food allergies and intolerances have not been the most common cause with the many people who contact us, but there have been plenty of notable exceptions. I would say it is something very worthwhile getting checked for and crossing off your list of possibilities and perhaps is an often ignored aspect.

Sizable enough numbers of people who have Meniere’s have found they have allergies to wheat, gluten, soy and/or some dairy foods.

Gluten intolerance 

The “increased interest” in allergies and Menieres Derebery speaks of may coincide with the huge increase in gluten intolerance, allergies or celiac disease in recent years. The extent of the relevance of that is debatable but the facts can not be ignored.

‘Interesting‘ because gluten intolerance is not a true allergy but rather a problem with gut flora.  With diagnosis not easy and often expensive, many people may never be diagnosed. Data varies, but just taking one quoted statistic that a decade ago, gluten-intolerance levels were at 1 in 2500 worldwide and today, it’s at 1 in 133 shows a shocking increase.

Why would such a huge number of the population suddenly start developing an intolerance to what has been part of the staple diet of a sizable portion of the world for generations?

Answers will vary depending on who you ask but I think it is obvious that forced food practices, food preparation, the introduction of GMO and the proliferation of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemical fertilizers, additives and other environmental pollutants is killing or at least affecting adversely the the tiny organisms that we need inside our gut.

The bacteria contains billions of neurons which is why the gut is often called the second brain and it is vital to the immune system, so we can easily join the dots and equate the explosion in degenerative diseases in the past half century at the very least with the modern culture of eating highly processed foods rather than fresh organic foods.

Is it any wonder that the supplement industry and in particular the drug industry is so huge these days, as is perversely, the agricultural chemical industry. When you take into account that organic farming (which should simply be termed “farming” as apposed to the ‘chemical farming’ that produces most of our food) is not much more than a cottage industry, there is definitely something wrong.

Modern “food convenience” it could be argued is resulting in mass poor health where the only winners are the CEO’s and share holders of huge multi national drug and chemical corporations. But at what cost to their own families and the general population?

Gluten in the form we know today is a neurotoxin and of course the central nervous system has been linked to Meniere’s. Over the past 50 years, hybridization wheat grains has taken place to supposedly increase crop yield ( the results of that are highly debatable)  and lengthen ‘shelf life’. A protein called gliadin was added to grain. It is thought that higher concentrations of this protein has made wheat less digestible, which causes an allergy or reaction. Increased antibodies to gliadin, may have a negative impact on the neural system.

Gluten intolerance is much more prevalent in the USA than Europe. Gluten intolerant Americans who have eaten wheat in Europe have asked the reason why they don’t have any problems there but do at home. There are two very relevant yet contentious answers to that. Europe does not as a rule allow GMO crops therefore there is less gliadin and it also does not allow (as of the time of writing) the use of glyphosate herbicide.

A study published in the journal, Laryngoscope stated the following:
 
“Wheat is one of the most common food allergens found in patients with Meniere’s disease (MD). Gluten from wheat has been identified to have a etiopathogenetic role in celiac disease, IgE hypersensitivity to wheat disease, and recently to gluten sensitivity. The aim of this study was to verify the incidence of gliadin prick test response in patients affected by MD.

Meniere’s Help reader’s experiences with food intolerances and the symptoms of Meniere’s

There were 58 adult patients with definite MD, 25 healthy volunteers, and 25 patients with grass pollen rhinoconjunctivitis tested with skin prick test to gliadin.

A total of 33 MD patients (56.9%) proved to be sensitive to gliadin, eight of whom were positive to prick test after 20 minutes, 13 after 6 hours, 11 after 12 hours, and one after 24 hours.”

We have long preached at Meniere’s Help the importance of what you eat and do not eat often being vital to help reduce or stop your symptoms (and often in the early days to the derision and skepticism of some in online forums, some doctors and some of our early readers – those people are very few and far between these days).

What do our readers have to say on the subject? Below are some extracts from mails to Meniere’s Help from sufferers,  that paint an interesting picture regarding what we eat, food and in particular gluten allergies and intolerances (used with permission):

“I have been suffering with Meniere’s for over 12 years. I’m otherwise very healthy. I have given up gluten, lactose, caffeine and cut way back on refined sugar. But these 6 weeks were tough. I was so exhausted I could barely get out of bed. I found your site about 2 weeks ago and read about the supplements. I ordered all of the maximum recommendation.

I started taking them a week ago and have been dizzy free for 4 days. My head is clear, I have energy, and my vision has returned to normal. I got up on Saturday and walked over to the window. I was in awe that there was so much color outside. It was like I was seeing beautiful color for the first time. And the brain fog had lifted. I still have the tinnitus and if I move my head too suddenly I can feel the dizziness during my movement so I know it’s still there. But this is honestly better than I imagined I would feel so soon after starting.

I don’t know if it’s the supplements or the recent episode (which I suspect was brought on by allergies) had run its course but I feel fantastic. I have boundless energy and found myself actually laughing and feeling playful like my old self. If progress continues I plan to do the full vitamin routine for 90 days and then transition to a maintenance program of the 4 supplements that the vast majority take to live symptom free.

It’s been a long, rough road but I am truly hopeful of living with fewer and/or less intense episodes for the first time since my initial diagnosis.

I’ll let you know if the progress continues.
Thanks for giving me hope
Katherine“

“Thanks for such an informative website.  I have, for a few months now, been reading through all the information on the site.  Your approach and philosophy to meniere’s really strikes a chord with me.I currently follow a strict low sodium diet, have recently given up both caffeine and alcohol (well, I have a decaf coffee once a day – not chemically decaffeinated) and have reduced my wheat/gluten intake severely…..(recent poor health has prompted me to become very interested in cellular nutrition!).“ 

“I suffer what could be Meniere’s disease, however I don’t yet experience vertigo. I have a roaring hissing tinnitus in my left ear and facial pain on left side and fullness in my ear.

Another point is I have suffered from food allergies such as gluten, sugar, and processed foods as they have created a numbing sensation for years prior to my condition now.“

“Hey Mike,

Thank you for following up, again…  I do appreciate it. After reading your book I have taken the following action for myself.

    1. I’ve stopped all Dr. Meds with the exception of a diuretic.  (I had stopped but felt that my hearing worsened a little so I went back on it and it has seemed to help)
    2. I have great pharmaceutical grade supplements.
    3. I have dramatically altered my diet, cut my sodium way back to no more than 1500 MG on a typical day.
    4. I have met with Dr Derebery of the House Ear Institute in LA and have gone through extensive allergy testing.

I have discovered that drinking alcohol and beer have a definite negative effect on my hearing so I’ve cut them out as well, (for the most part).  I’ve also mostly cut out all processed wheat, am attempting to cut out gluten, and have gone to a mainly whole foods diet which included plenty of organic fruits, veggies, and non GMO meats, ( among other foods as well).

So far I have seen improvement.  My hearing has cleared up some in both ears.  The “fog” I was living with has subsided and my tinnitus has decreased as well.  Earlier this year my hearing was so bad that I was unable to hear the fan that is placed right next to my head at night.  For years I have not been able to speak on the phone with my right ear and now I am able to.

Finally, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, for having and maintaining your web site and your book.  I have already referred it to a couple of people who I have met that are going through the same problems.  You definitely opened my eyes to alternative options for dealing with these issues, other than the Dr’s telling me to “learn to live with it”, or having to take the potentially toxic medications they were prescribing me.

Thanks again for your help.  I can’t express my appreciation enough!

Craig“

“Hello Mike,
Thank you so much for writing back and yes you are right. I was actually on TCM for 3 months and I thought I had my condition under control.  But soon I noticed that every month the week after my menses, my ear pressure will act up and my left neck will feel so sore and tensed.  I tried watching my diet ala keeping it low salt but soon got complacent.  I am really not very good at dietary control and I really needed to get my hands on your book to be disciplined about it.

I have started to do my regular brisk walking again, seen a chiropractor for some spinal adjustment.. Also plan to see a dentist to enquire about my alignment or even do a prick allergy test because my chiro told me I am allergic to gluten.”

“Hello Mike!

 I just wanted to congratulate you on the completion of your book.  As a fellow Meniere’s sufferer, I sincerely appreciate people like you doing extensive research and publishing what works and what doesn’t work.  More of us need to be solution minded, instead of having a victim mentality. Two years ago, I was literally a mess.  I thought my career was over, I thought my life was over.
    At this time, I have the (vertigo and brain fog) symptoms about 98% under control.  Diet– limited (but not super low) sodium and generally gluten-free.  No diet sugars, no MSG, no caffeine.  I do allow myself some alcohol, but in limited quantities. The supplements.

In any case, just wanted to say kudos for sharing your information.  I watched some of your videos earlier in my struggles, when things were bleak; it’s great for an MM sufferer to have hope that they can conquer this awful disease.

Best regards,
Deborah”

“Thanks for all the info, Mike. I would say that a lot of the triggers do apply to Harry, significant factor  is low adrenal function, often referred to as adrenal fatigue ( see endocrine disorder connections to Meniere’s and metabolism and Meniere’s)  it’s a real vicious circle, with stress being the biggest trigger.

He also has atrophic gastritis (caused by an h.pylori infection) and was 65 (he’s now 71) before we realised he was gluten sensitive.“

“yes we e-mailed u back already.
symptom free for 2 yrs. doing a completely paleo diet.
low carb/ no flour/no gluten/ no sugar or any processed foods.
change was immediate within a few days“

“I’m blessed by having tons more good days than bad. My diet is gluten-free, and pretty much salt and sugar-free.”

“Hi Mike, I just thought that I’d get back to you. Last week my Dr did a Blood test for Celiac Disease. It came out abnormal which means that I might have Celiac. For now it shows that I can’t do Gluten, Wheat, Barley, Rye and in some cases Oats. People with Celiac can’t absorb their Minerals correctly. So it would make sense that the supplements would help.“

“Hi Mike

Thanks for getting back to me.

I’ve had food intolerance tests, I’ve even had my amalgam fillings removed in a bid to feel better.  The food intolerance tests have made a big difference in that I have given up gluten and dairy and this has helped with my energy levels enormously although it took a while.
Thanks again, I do appreciate it.
Lisa“

Of course not everyone with Meniere’s Disease has food allergies or intolerances, but I hope I have demonstrated the possibility and getting at least tested is a must for you to either cross it off your list of possible causes/triggers or if needed to take appropriate action.

In other articles on the blog I have demonstrated the domino effect where seemingly unrelated issues can be vitally important to getting to the root cause of your Meniere’s for example: endocrine – thyroid- metabolism-T cells – Meniere’s.
 
If your gut is not healthy this can lead to many serious conditions, including the symptoms of Meniere’s. Research shows that gut flora supports your immune system, and protects your liver.
 
Ruling out vitamin and mineral deficiencies is something also to consider.  Often times, nutritional deficits can lead to nerve damage.  Most prominent is the loss of myelin (the insulation surrounding the nerves).

Vitamin B-12 deficiency is a common cause of myelin loss, as are copper and vitamin C deficiency.

Often times the deficiencies are caused by gluten induced gastrointestinal damage. B12 has a key role in the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system, the formation of red blood cells, helps in the production of DNA and RNA, is important for metabolism and helps your body produce energy.

No plant or animal can actually make vitamin B12 (only microorganisms as in good gut bacteria can do that), it is typically only animal foods (B12 is stored in the liver) that contain B12 since plants cannot make or store this vitamin. This makes deficiency in vegetarians and vegans who do not compensate a possibility.

Bottom line on Vitamin B12 is that if through gluten or other food allergies and intolerances or toxins the gut flora is depleted then this vital nutrient may be deficient and we can talk about the domino effects and poor health from that forever.

Keeping your gut flora healthy is again about what you eat and do not eat.

Antibiotics also seriously affect intestinal flora and it is advised these days that after a course it should always be followed by a good probiotic. Sugar and artificial sweeteners, alcohol, sometimes coffee, pesticides, emulsifiers in processed and fast foods can all have adverse effects on your gut flora destroying the balance of the approximate one trillion bacteria there.

If the balance in your gut is out the knock effect throughout your body may ultimately throw your inner ear function into dysfunction and contribute to you to suffering with Meniere’s symptoms.

 
If you are a meat eater you may believe you are getting adequate levels of B12. However, the amount of antibiotics pumped unnecessarily into animals in forced farming may be affecting your gut flora and therefore depleting your supply of B12.
 
If you think this a not a problem then consider that just this week (April 2016) powerful financial investors from the city of London warned high street food chains about the serious health risks of using meat and poultry from factory farms. Their concern was that consumer awareness may lead to loss in profits.
 

The financiers, including Aviva Investors, Strathclyde Pension Fund and Coller Capital, are particularly concerned about the use of antibiotics classified as “critically important” to human health and the “routine, preventative” use of drugs on factory farms.

 
This surprising and unprecedented move follows warnings from the World Health Organization (WHO) that antibiotic use in livestock production is contributing to the global threat of a “post-antibiotic era”.
 
Checking and dealing with it is one thing, avoiding it is another. Using a quality probiotic would seem wise and supplementing with Vitamin B 12 equally as wise given what we now know.
 
Fermented foods that have probiotic value are good for your gut flora health such as: natural probiotic yogurt, natto, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, pickles and lassi.
 
Dr Laurant Bannock DrHS MS LN is a world renowned Nutritionist. In his acclaimed book ‘The Clinical Nutrition Desk Reference’ he recommends using Thymus extract as part of a regimen for Meniere’s.
 
Thymus extract supports the immune system and helps decrease foods allergies.
 
You can see doctor Bannock’s recommendations here: Treatments for Meniere’s disease.
 
To re-emphasize how what you eat can make such a difference, one final email sent to Meniere’s Help:
 

Thanks for the email, Mike.   My husband Eric is still living symptom free…as long as we are eating whole, unprocessed foods and staying healthy by exercising.  As soon as we fall off the healthy food wagon, he begins to feel dizzy again.  Soooo, as long as we’re not slacking off, he does well.

I appreciate the personal touch on your email.  You’re a great guy to help so many people.

Have a great day!

Amy

Amy’s message that a change of diet can make a big difference is not untypical.

Are Food allergies and relevant in Meniere’s disease?

The hypothesis of Derebury as to how allergies might contribute to Meniere’s may or may not be correct but whether right or not it seems clear that allergies, intolerances, gut flora and metabolism are important issues to consider for people who have Meniere’s and what you eat makes a significant difference.

 

If you found this article useful Click here to support Meniere’s Help paypal.me/menieres

Related articles:

Gluten and Meniere’s Disease
Candida Albicans and Meniere’s Disease
Hypoglycemia and Meniere’s disease

Written by Mike Spencer

Founder of Menieres-Help.Com – Supporting sufferers since 2004

Researcher and Author of Managing Meniere’s Disease and The Need for Balance – Dealing with the Causes of Meniere’s

Help other Meniere’s sufferers. What are your experiences with Meniere’s and food allergies or intolerances? Tell us all about them in the comment box below or email Mike at: meniereshelp@gmail.com

References/Further reading:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24573125/

 
Categories
General Information on Meniere's Disease / Syndrome Meniere's Disease and Nutrition Meniere's Disease Triggers & Causes

Pregnancy and Meniere’s Disease

How can Pregnancy impact Meniere’s disease?

After over 12 years of supporting Meniere’s sufferers and receiving over 7,000 emails related to Meniere’s it has dawned on me in hindsight the amount of mails we have received from women whose symptoms started during pregnancy or just after giving birth.

It would seem, pregnancy and female hormonal changes can have a very real impact on Meniere’s disease.

Living with Meniere’s is hard enough for anyone but to a pregnant woman or a new mother having to give up sleep and take care of her new born it must be horrendous. If you are one of those unfortunate people, God only knows how you manage, especially if you are a single mom with no help.

I decided to do a search on the subject to find out more and see if we can shed light on this subject and help you more.

As far as clinical studies go they are few and far between but the initial results on google show a lot of messages on blogs and forums from expectant and new mothers. There is obviously a significant link here being missed.

Pregnancy and Meniere’s disease – Studies:

A 1997 study published in Journal for Otorhinolaryngoly and its Related Specialities stated the following:

“Vertigo attacks increased up to 10 times per month during early pregnancy. As pregnancy proceeded, the serum osmolality normalized and the vertigo attacks decreased in frequency. The vertigo attacks were treated by oral isosorbide and intramuscular injection of low-dose diazepam. The coincidence of the decline in osmolality with the increase in vertigo attacks points to serum osmolality as a possible factor in the effect of pregnancy on Ménière’s disease”

In this study carried out in Japan [The possible effect of pregnancy on Ménière’s disease.] it was aimed at women already suffering from Meniere’s before pregnancy but clearly shows pregnancy has an effect.

In a Polish study published on PubMed.Com [Sudden sensorineural hearing loss during pregnancy] it focused on one case of an otherwise healthy expectant mother who suddenly suffered sensorineural hearing loss, one symptom of Meniere’s.

The study stated:

“It has been hypothesized that hearing loss may be associated with increased activation of both blood coagulation and fibrinolysis (‘hypercoagulable state’) which occurs during normal pregnancy.

This state may lead to vascular occlusion in the microcirculation of the inner ear by microemboli. It’s necessary to take certain predisposing factors into consideration as fluid and sodium retention, emotional instability, situation anxiety, viral and allergic changes. It’s essential to conduct a more detailed diagnosis to exclude some organic disorders as otosclerosis, Meniere’s disease with non-typical course, especially those which are dangerous for pregnant women’s life–preeclampsia-eclampsia and hypertension.”

Blood flow, stress, viral and allergic factors are all connected to Meniere’s. But why would pregnancy bring such symptoms. Perhaps as the Japanese study suggests, blood or is it hormonal as another study on pubmed shows sensorineaural improvements during pregnancy. Hormonal irregularities can cause blood issues.

At the other end of the hormonal scale, a quick search for Meniere’s in Menopausal women threw up a lot more results. The instances of menopausal women suffering from Meniere’s and other conditions with vertigo symptoms were legion. What I was looking for was connections to the endocrine system and estrogen as this is a factor I have written about before.

The link I was looking at was how hormonal changes affecting the immune system can bring on Meniere’s.

A 2006 study shows that estrogen possibly plays a role in ear health. In the study in Acta Oto-Laryngologica it states:

“Hearing loss is more profound in elderly males than females (females have more estrogen). There are also well-known sex differences in the auditory brainstem responses in males and females.

Menopausal women who are administered hormone replacement therapy have slightly better hearing than those who are not, and women with Turner’s syndrome, who are biologically estrogen-deficient.

In animal experiment they showed: When boosted with estrogen or testosterone the non-reproductive female midshipman fish alters its inner ear auditory mechanism so that it can hear the male’s hum-like call.

If an estrogen receptor is knocked out in mice, severe progressive hearing loss occurs, leading to early deafness.

In apparent contradiction to these findings, there have been case reports suggesting that hormone replacement therapy and oral contraceptive use can lead to hearing loss, but of another type, namely acute sudden deafness. Such contradictory aspects of the action of estrogen are commonly found and may spring from the fact that there are two estrogen receptors, ? and ?, both of which are present in the inner ear of mice, rats and humans. Knowing how sex steroids can alter hearing ability may give important clues as to how estrogen can preserve hearing in humans”

The details of this study may not seem immediately clear to the Meniere’s sufferer. But for woman in pregnancy it may show there is a direct link to hormonal changes ear health and ultimately Meniere’s.

Meniere’s can lead to a very lonely existence where people around you have no idea what you are going through. For expectant or new mothers this must be very hard to deal with indeed.

Messages from Pregnant Meniere’s sufferers

From babycenter.com:

“I have Meniere’s and this is my 3rd pregnancy.  Have not had attacks during the previous two, and so far, none during this one.  However, I have definitely had more spells of lightedness/dizziness but not full on vertigo attacks, thank goodness.  I am 36 now, so I’m not sure if age has something to do with the increase in dizziness spells or not.  Had no issues whatsover with previous two pregnancies.  I’m 13 weeks now.”

“I have Meniere’s and am only 7 weeks with my second.  I was getting much better before I got pregnant, and I think it was because I was off the pill.  I’ve done a lot of research on hormones and Meniere’s.  Apparantly, being pregnant/nursing can really affect your symptoms.  Mine are twice as bad as they were just a few months ago.  I’m terrified that my pregnancy is going to be miserable again.  

My first preg. was bad, lots of attacks.  I nursed for a year and struggled through it.  I’m now gluten free (it helps!) and doing physical therapy to retrain my vestibular system. “

“i have a 4 month old (typing with one-hand) and am now starting to have symptoms again after a problem-free pregnancy (no vertigo and little tinnitus). i suspect, for me, my lack of menieres symptoms was related to increased pregnancy hormones. thus, i am researching trying to mimic that pregnancy-hormone-cocktail through birth control or hormone therapy. i am in the process of looking for an otolarynologist in san francisco who is open to trying out this idea. i have seen posts where women with menieres have controlled their symptoms by staying on birth control and minimizing any large fluctuations in hormones.”

“For my first pregnancy, I didn’t experience any symptoms (other than I noticed I was suffering from hearing loss). Not even during nursing, did I experience any. My second, I experienced symptoms AFTER my daughter was born…during the nursing phase. Now, with my third, I have had the most gruelling pregnancy ever in terms of MD. Everyday its a struggle for me. I am constantly “checking” my awareness, my “fogginess”. I get waves of “I think I am about to have an attack” throughout the day. I worry not to turn my head to quickly. It’s gotten pretty bad, so much so that my doctor wrote a note for my husband’s work to let him work from home so I wont be alone. So for me, with each pregnancy it gets worse. I am still on low sodium, but no dyazide. I started taking zofran on the onset of an attack, and I’ve noticed it helps reduce the nausea, but of course not the vertigo. So I’ve noticed a quicker recovery time as a result (from a 4-6 hour attack to about 2 hours). I wonder if the influx of more estrogen could be a factor, seeing as though I had a girl last time, and now this time in which I experienced MD? “

“I follow an extremely strict low sodium diet (<1500 mg/day). I use only organic produce, no canned/boxed/jarred or processed food of any kind. I eat very little meat (2-3 times a week) and I only eat local organic grassfed beef–no hormones or antibiotics. I eat a lot of beans (dry not canned) as well as fresh or roasted vegetables. I also only drink water–no soda, coffee, tea of any kind even if it is decaf or diet. All the chemicals exacerbate my symptoms. I make my own bread and most things from scratch omitting salt in recipes or subbing for a low sodium option. I’ve followed this diet for about a year. It was working pretty well (better than most meds ever did at least) until I got pregnant. I’ve been super sick again and I lost about 15 pounds the first part of my pregnancy. I’m just now breaking even at 19 weeks :-/ I can’t drive or ride in a car without vomiting. I feel like a hermit 🙁 Diet is likely the only thing that has kept me from being confined strictly to bed verses the fact that I can sit for a large part of the day without problems. Feel free to PAN me anytime :)”

“I have Meniere’s and have 6 weeks left till our due date. It has been a challenging process as I was just diagnosed with Meniere’s a month before expecting so there has been a lot of new and adjusting.

My first trimester was really tough and I had frequent vertigo episodes— daily— then in the 2nd trimester I went a few weeks a time without any, and now I back to daily vertigo episodes. It is tough but survivable. The hardest things is the unpredictability and being scared.

Just decided to stay home a lot, getting behind the wheel is a definite no right now. It is challenging and scary at times. Hoping it decreases after birth so I can be present for the little one.

I have used acupuncture, hypnosis, chiropractor, yoga, meditation and tried a bit of everything to lessen the severity. Not much you can do while pregnant. Some doctor’s say medicine is ok, it is up to you. We all have different beliefs, I chose to stop medication while pregnant.

Being relaxed and safe is the best way to get through it. Good luck. Oh and all I know from the research is everyone is different so be positive and maybe pregnancy will correct yours.”

Hormonal Changes During Pregnancy

The hormonal and physiologic changes during pregnancy are unique in the life of women. Pregnant women experience sudden and dramatic increases in estrogen and progesterone, as well as changes in the amount and function of a number of other hormones.

Given that imbalances, disorders and dysfunctions in the metabolism, endocrine system and thyroid (which are all connected) have been linked to the onset of Meniere’s symptoms, is it not possible that the hormonal changes that a pregnant woman goes through may result in the same thing. Given the multitude of other contributing factors in each individual that can compound, speed up or even help avoid the onset of Meniere’s, looking at hormone balance would be a very good place to start.

At Meniere’s Help we try to offer natural solutions as much as possible, through nutrition in foods and safe, clean supplementation.

Re-balancing your hormones may help a great deal in your body correcting its endocrine and immune system and rid you of the source of your Meniere’s symptoms.

The 10 best herbs for female hormone balance according to Dr Group of the Global Healing Center:

  • ashwagandha
  • avena sativa
  • catuaba bark
  • epimedium
  • Maca root
  • muira puama
  • Shilajit
  • Suma
  • tongkat ali
  • tribulus terrestris

**NOTE** If you are pregnant or breast feeding please consult your physician before using herbs that influence your hormones.

If you are a a woman suffering in this position, I hope this article helps you.

If you found this article useful Click here to support Meniere’s Help paypal.me/menieres

Related articles:

Endocrine Disorders and Meniere’s Disease
Meniere’s Disease and Thyroid Dysfunction

By Mike Spencer
Founder of Menieres-Help.Com – Supporting sufferers since 2004
Researcher & Author of Managing Meniere’s Diseaseand The Need for Balance – Dealing with the Causes of Meniere’s

Help other women either pregnant or newly given birth who have Meniere’s Disease. What are your experiences? Tell us all about it in the comments box below or email Mike at meniereshelp@gmail.com

References/Further reading:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9279870/

Categories
Meniere's Disease and Nutrition General Information on Meniere's Disease / Syndrome Meniere's Disease Triggers & Causes

Vitamin C and Meniere’s Disease

Why Vitamin C is so important when managing Meniere’s disease

Vitamin C is a vital nutrient that is not stored in your body and therefore needs to be consumed regularly.

Vitamin C  is an integral element not only in the regimen discussed on Meniere’ Help but in other recommendations for Meniere’s from different doctors and nutritionists. It  is a potent antioxidant that fights inflammation.

Inflammation is an important aspect involved in causing the symptoms of Meniere’s disease. A closer look at its significance to overall health reveals its value is even greater than initially thought for Meniere’s, especially given what we know about the links of the thyroid to Meniere’s in at least one third of sufferers.

Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, meaning that your body doesn’t store it. You have to get what you need from food, such as citrus fruits, broccoli, berries and tomatoes. You need vitamin C for the growth and repair of tissues in all parts of your body.

Leftover amounts of the vitamin leave the body through urine. That means you need an ongoing supply of this nutrient in your diet. It also means it makes it very unlikely you can get too much. The body uses what it needs then secretes the rest. When there is inflammation or a cold virus present for example it may use every amount consumed while when your body is otherwise healthy it will use less and expel the rest.

With the constant inflammation related to Meniere’s and the fact it helps the immune system deal with that suggests more is needed and used than in a normal healthy body.

Once Vitamin C is consumed it is dispersed throughout the body. Among the highest levels of vitamin C accumulation are in the adrenal gland and pituitary gland in the endocrine system and therefore related to thyroid function.  Both the endocrine system and as stated above the thyroid are connected to Meniere’s in a sizable amount of sufferers. You can read about the connection of endocrine disorders and Meniere’s here.

It is such a powerful nutrient that a recent study presented at the American Physiological Society Conference suggested that vitamin C could promote similar positive effects on the heart to exercise.

Vitamin C is also a cofactor in at least eight enzymatic reactions, including several collagen synthesis reactions that, when dysfunctional, cause the most severe symptoms of scurvy.

The old American nickname of “Limey” for British people comes from the days when sailors sailed across the Atlantic or on other long voyages many would die from lack of nutrition and in particular scurvy.

Ships were eventually loaded with limes (high in vitamin C) to keep the sailors alive. Hence the nickname.

If you think scurvy is only a thing of the past, an 18th century sailor’s disease or something from the history books about Victorian England, you would be wrong.

A multitude of reports over the past few years have revealed the return of this most avoidable condition. 2009 Daily Mail: “Scurvy is making a comeback among England’s children“,  2013 The Telegraph: “Cases of scurvy and rickets have been on the rise in parts of the UK“, 2015 CNN: “Scurvy. TB. Scarlet fever: They’re all back”, 2015 The Express: “Gout, scurvy, rickets and more: Victorian diseases are coming back”, 2015 The Independent: “Cases of diseases rife in the Victorian era including scurvy, scarlet fever, cholera and whooping cough have also increased since 2010″, 2016 BBC: “scurvy is on the rise in England”.

The return of such easily avoidable diseases almost forgotten in the western world in our generation can be put down to many things such as increased poverty through overly harsh austerity measures from governments, malnutrition as a result of modern eating habits, the saturation of junk foods devoid of substantial nutrition and what I would call the criminal demonizing of Vitamin C (and other important nutrients) in certain elements of the media. Media that are funded through constant advertising of drugs.

The result being,  as with other vital nutrients RDA’s are lowered, supplementation is scoffed at and the unsuspecting public is horribly deceived and often it would seem undernourished as a result.

Evident from the studies cited below, many people are not getting enough Vitamin C.

A 2004 government study published in the American Journal of Public Health reported that “vitamin C deficiency and depletion were common” and concluded  that, “Health professionals should recommend consumption of vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin C and should recommend supplementation for individuals at risk of vitamin C deficiency”.

The Journal of General Internal Medicine published a 2008 study titled ‘Scurvy Is Still Present in Developed Countries’ and pointed out that both Vitamin C and Zinc deficiency are a problem.

Both nutrients are very relevant to Meniere’s Disease, especially when related to thyroid dysfunction.

The point of this article is not so much to point out deficiencies as to bring attention to the importance of Vitamin C to Meniere’s sufferers on several different levels.

One of the most famous proponents of high dose vitamin C treatment for colds and other disease was Linus Pauling, a physical chemist and peace activist who won two Nobel Prizes, one for chemistry in 1954.

The New Scientist magazine ranked him as one of the 20 greatest scientists to ever live.

While the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin C had been established at 40 to 60 mg per day — an amount more than sufficient to prevent scurvy — Pauling advocated amounts of 1,000 mg or even higher. Much of the scientific literature published on vitamin C in the two decades since Pauling’s death has supported his claims.

One point to remember is that RDAs are MINIMUM recommendations, NOT MAXIMUM LIMITS. This is an important misperception.

Dr. Frei, a researcher at Harvard University’s Department of Nutrition said in an interview with Dr Mercola (one doctor who specializes in nutritional health) that interest in vitamin C was renewed when it became known that many degenerative diseases involve oxidation, “and it is clear that vitamin C can very effectively prevent many of these oxidation processes, because it is a very strong antioxidant,” he said.

Preventing oxidation and inflammation is what is believed to be the key element in the concept of how nutrition keeps sufferers symptom free using the supplement regimen discussed on Meniere’s Help.

A large, decade-long research study led by Dr. James Engstrom at the UCLA also found that men who took 800 mg of vitamin C per day — which is more than 10 times the RDA — had less heart disease and lived up to six years longer than those following the conventional guideline of 60 mg/day.

Another study published in Life Extension Magazine in 1996, found that seniors who took high-potency vitamin C and E had an overall reduced mortality rate of 42 percent.

Low potency “one-a-day” multiple vitamins had no beneficial effect on mortality.  40 studies have also shown that people who eat vitamin C-rich diets have a lower incidence of cancer.

We can establish its importance as an antioxidant and its power to help reduce inflammation therefore helping keep Meniere’s sufferers symptom free simply from the results sufferers have reported to Meniere’s Help over the past 12 years. But is it even more vital than originally thought given its importance to thyroid function and the endocrine system and their connections to both overall immune health and Meniere’s Disease?

There is a relation between oxidation and thyroid dysfunction. Numerous studies have confirmed the presence of excess oxidative stress and a deteriorated antioxidant defense system in thyroid conditions. In fact, a large experimental study published in the BMC Endocrine Disorders journal reported that all subjects with benign or malignant thyroid disease had low levels of antioxidants, particularly with selenium, zinc, and vitamin C.

While low levels of selenium and zinc were not found in all subjects, low levels of vitamin C were.

This confirms an association with vitamin C deficiency and thyroid function. One reason why vitamin C may be deficient in all people with thyroid conditions could be a result of adrenal fatigue. This brings us to yet another link to Meniere’s Disease, stress.

As mentioned above, the adrenal gland contains the highest concentration of vitamin C in the body. In fact, the vitamin plays a crucial role in both the adrenal cortex and adrenal medulla which are responsible for responding to stress.

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vitamin C secretion is part of the body’s stress response. Excessive stress, along with insufficient intake of vitamin C, can create a deficiency that leads to adrenal stress.

Countless studies show chronic adrenal stress disrupts the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Because thyroid hormone is directed by the hypothalamus and the pituitary glands, anything that disrupts the HPA axis will affect thyroid function.

Are you starting to see the cycle of possibilities here? Stress (known trigger or cause), adrenal-pituitary-endocrine-thyroid (all linked to Meniere’s in some people), oxidation and inflammation (linked to degenerative diseases including Meniere’s), Vitamin C (the common nutrient that makes the difference either way.)

If you do not see it yet then read the links between thyroid and Meniere’s  plus endocrine system and Meniere’s linked at the bottom of the page.

Continuing along this theme, in addition to the above, Vitamin C actually helps thyroid medication.

For those who opt for thyroid medication rather than nutrition many still experience symptoms which indicate medication may not fully work towards thyroid homeostasis (balance).

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism studied the effects of vitamin C on the absorption of a synthetic T4 hormone with 31 patients who either had autoimmune thyroiditis or idiopathic hypothyroidism. Prior to the study, all patients were not in good control when taking the synthetic T4. Serum concentrations of T3, T4, and TSH were measured at particular intervals after vitamin C therapy.

All three concentrations were improved while taking vitamin C. TSH decreased in all patients and normalized in nearly 55 percent of them. T4 was higher with 30 of the 31 patients, and T3 was increased with all patients tested. These findings are very significant regarding the role of vitamin C and thyroid function.

Vitamin C has been shown to help thyroid function. One of the leading experts on treating thyroid disease, the late Dr. John C. Lowe, recommended the highest doses of vitamin C to bowel tolerance for four weeks as therapy.

We already know through the experience of multiple thousands over 12 years that using the supplement regimen can lead to a life with little to no symptoms. We have long known that the grapeseed extract, a vitamin C /flavonoid combination is one of the most important elements and can make all the difference.

Given the right nutrients in the right amounts the body has amazing self healing powers. This is the natural role of the immune system.

In the book Managing Meniere’s DiseaseI focus very much on triggers and getting to the root cause of your Meniere’s symptoms then eliminating it.

Supplements are also discussed however. Supplements used are not seen as a treatment nor a cure. The concept is that by feeding your body the correct nutrients in sufficient amount to keep your immune system strong and healthy it will deal with the inflammation causing your symptoms naturally.

It has proven very successful.

Looking at the role of Vitamin C and other nutrients in a healthy thyroid gland and endocrine system, it may be that in some cases nutrition could indeed be classed as a cure.

There are reasons why even eating what you may think is a healthy diet might not be enough but below are some of the best foods naturally rich in vitamin C.

Good sources of Vitamin C:

Mulberries, Strawberries, Acerola cherries, Citrus Fruits (oranges, grapefruits, lemon and limes), Papayas, Black currants, Kiwis, Bell peppers, Guava, Brussels sprouts, Melons, Dark leafy greens, Amalaki Fruit, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Tomatoes, Some herbs ( cilantro, chives, thyme, basil and parsley)

Important factors that affect absorption of Vitamin C

Caffeine

As Vitamin C is water soluble anything that has diuretic effects can possibly cause depletion. Caffeine is also a stimulant and can too much can quickly increase Meniere’s symptoms such as tinnitus and pressure in the ear.

Smoking

Studies show that people who smoke 20 cigarettes a day have 40% less Vitamin C in their blood than non-smokers. At the same time your body needs even more Vitamin C to counteract the damage that smoking causes to your cells.

Stress

Prolonged stress also depletes Vitamin C and this is why you should take extra Vitamin C during periods of stress. A study at the University of Trier in Germany, showed that the stress indicators (both physical and mental) as well as the recovery from stress, were consistently lower in people with high levels of Vitamin C.

Medications

Drugs including aspirin, birth control medications, anti-inflammatory drugs such as PREDNISONE and DIURETICS (source: university of Maryland-Medical Center)

Thiazide Diuretics are one of the most commonly prescribed medicines for Meniere’s treatment. When prescribing diuretics the treating doctor will often advise you to eat plenty of potassium rich foods or even prescribe potassium supplements to offset the side effect of depletion. However what is rarely if ever discussed or considered is that these diuretics also deplete several other minerals AND ascorbic acid  –  VITAMIN C.

So above we see two known triggers, caffeine and stress and two commonly prescribed types of drugs for Meniere’s, Thiazides and prednisone possibly depleting Vitamin C.

Bottom line: Vitamin C is important for everyone, not least for Meniere’s sufferers and the information above should make it obvious that eating foods rich in vitamin C and/or supplementing is essential to help reduce, eliminate or avoid increases in Meniere’s symptoms.

High Dose Vitamin C for Disease States: Video

If you found this article useful Click here to support Meniere’s Help paypal.me/menieres

Related articles:

Stress and Meniere’s Disease – Symptom or Cause?
Meniere’s Disease and Thyroid Dysfunction
Endocrine Disorders and Meniere’s Disease

By Mike Spencer
Founder of Menieres-Help.Com – Supporting sufferers since 2004
Researcher & Author of Managing Meniere’s Disease and The Need for Balance – Dealing with the Causes of Meniere’s

Help Other Meniere’s Sufferers. What are your experiences with or thoughts on what you have read here? Tell us all about it in the comments box below or email Mike at meniereshelp@gmail.com

References/Further reading:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12953767/

Categories
General Information on Meniere's Disease / Syndrome Meniere's Disease and Nutrition Meniere's Disease Triggers & Causes

T Cells Relevance to Meniere’s Disease

T Cells and Meniere’s Disease

Spend any time on Menieres-Help.Com and you will constantly be reminded of the obvious importance having a strong immune system when dealing with Meniere’s Disease or any other disease for that matter.

A healthy immune system can deal with inflammation that would otherwise manifest into disease states such as Meniere’s.  The best ways to strengthen and maintain a healthy, strong immune system is through diet and exercise. What we eat and do not eat makes all the difference and even moderate exercise such as walking promotes immune boosting blood flow.

Many of the foods we eat can contain contaminants and toxins that can actually destroy our immune system or throw it out of sync through the endocrine system.  Water and other fluids we drink are no different.

Clean water and balanced healthy whole food diet (organic whenever possible) backed up by quality supplementation can keep your immune system strong and effective, keeping you free of Meniere’s symptoms.

One specific area within the immune system that has been linked to Meniere’s is T-Cells. T-cells are essential for human immunity.

T cells are a type of white blood cell (a lymphocyte that is produced or processed by the thymus gland).  Defenders that search out and destroy targeted invaders. The “T” stands for “thymus” — the organ in which these cells mature. As opposed to B cells which mature in the bone marrow.

Immature T cells (termed T-stem cells) migrate to the thymus gland, where they mature and differentiate into various types of mature T cells and become active within the immune system in response to a hormone called thymosin and other factors. T-cells that are potentially activated against the body’s own tissues are normally killed or changed (down-regulated) while maturing in the thymus. The thymus depends on hormonal regulation from the thyroid and the thyroid depends on a healthy endocrine system. Metabolism is also relevant. This whole chain of interdependent functions depend on the fuel (food) we give our bodies.

What causes the T-Cell response in Meniere’s Disease?

The connection between T-cells and Meniere’s has been discussed and studied for many years. In recent years a vaccine/drug was produced in Australia to help the body regulate T-Cells as part of a Meniere’s ‘treatment’.

Two or three years ago I had a long “interesting” conversation with the man claiming responsibility for formulating the vaccine. His initial comment was “Meniere’s is caused by T-cells. It is treatable“

In this youtube comments conversation, he at first seemed cordial if somewhat arrogant. The conversation at first appeared constructive until it seemed obvious to me (in my opinion at the time) that the man was nothing more than a corporate shill probably marketing some biotech corporation’s vaccine.

He insisted the likes of Dr Burcon “were finished” (Dr Burcon is a Chiropractic doctor who is a world renowned speaker at Meniere’s symposiums and has helped many sufferers, whose root cause was cervical spine in nature, regain their health – some of which have come through Meniere’s Help.)

The conversation went further downhill when he referred to those promoting the health of the immune system through dietary means for Meniere’s in a demeaning manner as, “the vitamin crowd“.

I pointed out that the whole concept of diet and supplementation is to build a healthy immune system naturally, to enable it to tackle inflammation sufficiently to deal with the symptoms of Meniere’s. I also pointed out that in some people the root cause was neck/spine related, myself included.*

(*As a result of identifying this root cause in my own individual case and correcting it, I am completely free of Meniere’s and have been since 2012 – there are several root causes and everyone is different – hence there being no ‘definitive‘ cure.) Click here to read my own story

He continued to attempt to discredit anyone involved in helping Meniere’s sufferers except himself it seemed, if indeed that is his real motive.

When asked to list the ingredients of his vaccine he skirted the issue and continued to bash others who have been involved in successfully helping Meniere’s sufferers for many years. He was asked several times and never responded with a direct answer.

Why would that be?

He insisted on making the assumption that the diet/supplementation we speak of on Meniere’s Help was some form of “treatment“, even though I continually corrected him and reminded him it was all about supporting the immune system naturally and letting the body take care of itself.

It is NOT a treatment; just plain old common sense.

As there are several possible root causes and many contributing factors with Meniere’s, giving the body the fuel it needs and starving the ‘disease’ enables the body itself to be the best doctor. This is a simple yet fundamental concept based on natural human biology. Not a ‘treatment’ at all. Click here to read more on this concept.

He refused to comment on if he would be financially gaining from the use of the vaccine and could not (or would not) get his head around the fact that if there were a dysfunction in T-cells then that in itself is another result in a chain of events that follow from the initial root cause.

The conversation became rather too negative for my liking and his constant unjustified vilifying of the likes of Dr Burcon suggested to me that he was merely trolling youtube videos to throw doubt on all other methods of helping stop Meniere’s symptoms while promoting his own ‘business venture’.

Finally, I saw no benefit for any reader in what was being said and deleted the whole conversation.

I later discovered his thread on Menieres.org had also been deleted after he was accused of “trolling”  its members there. (Their impression, not mine)

His constant degrading talk of other good people involved in helping Meniere’s sufferers and the demonizing of all other methods but his own stank of someone only interested in the money he might make from his vaccine. I had never heard such talk from doctors or other health professionals regardless of their own opinions of these methods and I have spoken to many health professionals.

This man was no doctor nor scientist.

The Daily Mail ran a story in May 2015 about Michelle Leathem from the UK who was so sick with Meniere’s she was allegedly having vertigo attacks for up to 8 hours a day. She was having to do fundraisers to try and gather the approximate  US $19,000 for this man’s ‘treatment‘.

I will leave you the reader to come to your own conclusions there!

My own personal view is I think it is outrageously taking advantage of people he knows full well are desperate and will do anything to rid themselves of their symptoms. When we know this can be successfully dealt with naturally, through several different approaches and this has been possible for many years now, I find this outrageous yet unsurprising given the man’s arrogance and insistence on trying his best to discredit every other known possibility for sufferers.

Had he come along and said “look I have another avenue to go down to treat Meniere’s” maybe I would view things differently. That is not what happened. It was hard sell rhetoric, insulting to people who have spent years and lots of money and effort helping Meniere’s sufferers and illegitimately discrediting towards concepts he obviously had no understanding of.

I trust my gut instinct, and it didn’t take much to realize what a profiteering opportunist I was talking to.

Having allegedly suffered from Meniere’s himself it astounds me that he can hold the patent to this ‘drug’ and profit from such extortionate charges. I guess with millions around the world desperate with this condition he may well become a very rich man for something that will never become a definitive cure, but rather just another one of many long running ‘treatments’ with varying results.

If you are reading Stephen, (as you have been known to visit this site before) then feel free to comment below and I will continue to prove you wrong and expose you for what you are. How many people can afford the kind of money you are demanding?

As I said to you before, if your vaccine helps some sufferers then great, but we would like to know what the vaccine is made up of completely, every ingredient and what are the possible side effects?

As for T-cells being the root cause, you are simply wrong. It may or may not be that your drug turns out to be more effective than others but at the end of the day it is another ‘drug’ for ‘treating’ a resulting effect rather than tackling one of the several known root causes.

Getting to these root causes and dealing with them, almost always naturally is not only possible, but has been done by countless sufferers and is being done all the time. All the money and tricks you throw at marketing your drug can not change this fact.

The Thyroid factor

Just as inflammation is a causative factor, T-cell irregularities may be a causative factor but regardless, both must be a result of something else at the ‘root‘ cause. Irregularities in the formation and regulation of T-cells must be another domino falling along the route to the symptoms of Meniere’s manifesting.

If T-cells mature in the thymus gland and the Thyroid modulates thymic endocrine activity then a healthy endocrine system and therefore thyroid is needed to maintain healthy T-cells.

As discussed in two previous articles, “Thyroid Dysfunction Connections to Meniere’s Disease” and “Endocrine Disorders Connected to Meniere’s” it is all connected to the immune system and if anything within these systems is out of sync then the immune system will be affected and vice versa.

When considering a healthy thyroid and endocrine system, diet must be the first and most important factor. What you eat or do not eat, the nutritional value of what you eat or any toxic contamination of what you eat is vitally important.

How can healthy T-cells be produced if the thyroid is malfunctioning. Thyroid disfunction can be corrected with nutrition to allow the thyroid to produce and send out the correct hormonal responses needed for T-Cell function.

To just back these facts up, consider the study published from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism in 1986 that concluded, “thyroid status modulates thymic endocrine function in humans.”

In a study published in 1992 in ‘Thyroid’, the official Journal of the American Thyroid Association regarding “T cells and human autoimmune thyroid disease” it stated, “There is compelling evidence that the thyroid cell itself, by expressing HLA molecules, and presenting antigen directly to the T cells, may initiate disease, perhaps after an external insult.”

In other words, something affecting the thyroid can result in the thyroid affecting T cells.

In another study published on PubMed.Gov 1994 (Ohashi H, Itoh M.), it was shown in hyperthyroidism that: “These results suggested that thyroid hormone suppressed the immune response and that a deficiency of this hormone was associated with an increase of activated T cells.”

A study published in ‘Biological Psychiatry’ in 2009 concluded that, “These results show for the first time that thyroid hormones are important neuroendocrine regulators of tumor evolution, most probably acting through the modulation of T-cell mediated immunity affected by chronic stress”

This study is of particular importance to Meniere’s sufferers as the subject of the study was ‘Involvement of thyroid hormones in the alterations of T-cell immunity and tumor progression induced by chronic stress.‘

Stress has long been a highly debated cause of Meniere’s symptoms. There is no debate for most sufferers who know all too well that stress can bring on a vertigo attack or at the very least an increase in pressure inside the ear. The debate in most cases is whether stress is a root cause or a contributing trigger. This study would suggest that in at least some cases it could be a root cause.

The study states that, “Stress alters the neuroendocrine system and immunity”

Stress – endocrine – immunity – ALL have been linked to Meniere’s in separate ways. We can see here by joining the dots and considering the domino effect root causes can have on our health, how stress might be a root cause in some cases.

The study goes on to state, “Thyroid hormones have been related to stress” and “Chronic restraint stress* impairs T-cell mediated immunity”

*Restraint stress is a specific type of stress used in studies and experiments to cause enough psychological trauma and produce a desired effect*

You can read an in depth article on how stress can affect the thyroid and as a result the immune system (including T-cells) here.

When you consider that strengthening the immune system through nutrition has helped so many people live free of Meniere’s symptoms, even if the root cause were stress, then it is obvious that the right nutrition can help greatly.

Whatever the reasons, T-cell irregularities has been linked with Meniere’s Disease in some people at least.

Increases in T-cell, and what are called helper cells have been recorded during acute Meniere’s attacks. This suggests autoimmunity as a contributing cause.

To help Stephen understand the importance of nutrition to the immune system, the thymus gland and T-cells here is some information from the “vitamin crowd“- the US National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health:

1984 study ‘Cell-mediated immunity in nutritional deficiency.‘

  1. Dietary deficiencies of specific nutrients profoundly alter cell-mediated immune responses.
  2. Both moderate and severe deficiencies are associated with significant changes in immunocompetence
  3. Diets with inadequate levels of protein, calories, vitamin A, pyridoxine, biotin and zinc result in loss of thymic cellularity
  4. The production of thymic hormones critical for the differentiation of T lymphocytes is reduced, especially in protein-calorie malnutrition and zinc deficiency
  5. Confirmation of a T cell maturational defect in nutritional deprivation comes from the observations of decreased total (T3 and rosette-forming)
  6. Loss of cutaneous hypersensitivity to mitogens and antigens is a consistent sequela of dietary deficiencies of protein, vitamins A and C, pyridoxine, iron and zinc.
  7. Cell-mediated immunity directed against allogeneic histocompatibility antigens may actually be enhanced by experimental protein and polyunsaturated fat deficiencies

2010 Study: ‘Nutritional imbalances and infections affect the thymus: consequences on T-cell-mediated immune responses’

  1. The thymus gland, where T lymphocyte development occurs, is targeted in malnutrition secondary to protein energy deficiency.
  2. Profound changes in the thymus can also be seen in deficiencies of vitamins and trace elements
  3. In zinc deficiency, there is a substantial thymic atrophy
  4. Importantly, marginal Zinc deficiency in AIDS subjects, children with diarrhoea and elderly persons, significantly impairs the host’s immunity, resulting in an increased risk of opportunistic infections and mortality; effects that are reversed by Zinc supplementation.

I could go on forever quoting from other studies such as:

‘The thymus is a common target in malnutrition and infection’

‘The thymus gland is a target in malnutrition.‘

‘Cell-mediated immunity in nutritional deficiency.’

‘Serum thymic factor activity in deficiencies of calories, zinc, vitamin A and pyridoxine.’

…and so on.

Search on the net for ‘nutrition and immune system‘ and you will see the studies are legion. It is not rocket science, the immune system, as with the rest of the body, needs water, air and nutrition just as a car needs fuel, oil and lubricants.  Never a truer word was spoken when the phrase “We are what we eat” was coined.

Balance your endocrine system, support your thyroid and immune system, all of which is done through nutrition and in most cases the body will take care of itself in idiopathic conditions such as Meniere’s.

In other cases, musculoskeletal adjustments may be needed or toxic sources may need to be removed. Stephen’s extortionately priced drug treatment doesn’t begin to cover the whole picture and is certainly no definitive cure.

Following the 2015 Daily Mail article mentioned above, Professor Bill Gibson, Secretary of the Meniere’s Research Fund Inc. at Sydney University issued a statement addressing his relationship with Stephen Spring and his thoughts on his “treatment”.  Below are some extracts:

“Stephen Spring was vice president of the Meniere’s Research Fund Inc. He has no medical qualifications and works in his own law related company. He has spent years researching the literature and he has hypothesized a plausible theory for the causation of Meniere’s disease.

His theory remains unvalidated and there is a concern that it could even be a placebo event. Ideally we would have liked to have had his theory assessed at the University of Sydney.

But there was a major problem as Stephen applied for a patent of his concept and is charging fees to undertake the treatment. He has developed a course of medication which he calls ‘Menivac’ which he believes controls the disease and will not disclose the nature of ‘Menivac’. The funds of the Meniere’s Research Fund are held and controlled by The University of Sydney and they will not give approval for a clinical trial of Menivac for the following reasons:

Stephen’s treatment has stated that the exact nature of the ‘Menivac’ cannot be disclosed to the recipients. The University cannot provide insurance against untoward events without disclosing the exact nature of the drug(s) and treatment being used to each recipient.

The University would not expend trust funds on a theory developed and remains untested by a person who does not hold any scientific qualification in the relevant field.

The University would expect that the Fund would receive some payment from Stephen Spring in return for expending the trust funds to validate his theory if the validation was likely to financially benefit Stephen Spring.

Unless a properly conducted trial of Menivac and the concept is undertaken, the treatment will remain in the realms of other untested treatments such as acupuncture, homeopathy, etc.

IN CONCLUSION Stephen Spring has developed a therapy for Meniere’s disease which he has made available to Meniere’s sufferers for a fee. The treatment has not been validated and there are obstacles which prevent a proper trial occurring.”

The full statement can be viewed at Meniere’s Disease UK.

I have read that Stephen’s treatment can take up to 2 years. Indeed, at the time of writing, Michelle’s (from the Daily Mail article mentioned above) own fundraising website states she is looking at “two years of treatment” and “tens of thousands of pounds“, for something that has not been validated, not been through clinical trials and is patented by a private individual with no medical or scientific background who will profit from that patent.

I genuinely hope this treatment is successful for Michelle, of course, and anyone else choosing to go this route. At present, with the fees so extortionate there are unlikely to be many testimonials, simply because the vast majority of sufferers would never be able to afford it.

If you have spent much time on Menieres Help you will know that sufferers can get results in months, weeks and even days through appropriate nutrient application to support the immune system naturally, no synthetic drugs with undisclosed ingredients such as “menivac” needed and at a tiny fraction of the cost of this treatment.  Moreover, you will also know that you can find your own root cause, correct or eliminate it and in the process you will have found the key to your own individual solution. There are no profit generating patents on these facts.

Update: Shortly after this article was posted, I came across Stephen Spring again. I had posted a very well received and much shared article in a Meniere’s Facebook group regarding the connections to Meniere’s and the Thyroid. Among the many comments, up popped Stephen with irrelevant comments about this article suggesting I had been ‘unfair and inaccurate’.

Another lengthy debate ensued and when it was very clear that he was doing a great job of distracting the group’s readers from the Thyroid article I suggested we take it to a private conversation and invited him once again to comment on this post.

Following a private conversation Stephen did comment below. Scroll down to the comments box below to read his opinions and see my reply.

Bottom line, T-Cells are relevant in the domino effect that can create the symptoms of Meniere’s in at least some people. The Thyroid and endocrine system are more relevant in that they are responsible for regulation of T-Cells. Cut endocrine disruptors and estrogen mimicers from your life, balance your endocrine system and Thyroid through the correct nutrition and lifestyle and if this is all relevant in your individual case you will stop the first domino falling. There is your cure.

If you found this article useful Click here to support Meniere’s Help paypal.me/menieres

Related articles:

Endocrine Disorders and Meniere’s Disease
Can Meniere’s Disease be caused by Autoimmunity?
Stress and Meniere’s Disease – Symptom or Cause?

By Mike Spencer
Founder of Menieres-Help.Com – Supporting sufferers since 2004
Researcher and author or Managing Meniere’s Disease and The Need for Balance – Dealing with the Causes of Meniere’s

Help other Meniere’s sufferers. Tell us what you think in the comments box below or email Mike at meniereshelp@gmail.com

Further reading:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28219165/

Exit mobile version