This doctor gets a bit over excited about what he says is an often overlooked cause of Meniere’s disease: Autoimmunity, where your own immune system attacks parts of your brain. In a recent study it is claimed that 6% of Meniere’s disease cases are caused by autoimmunity….that was for people with Meniere’s on one side. For people who have Meniere’s symptoms in BOTH ears (bilateral) the study says the number is 16%!!
This doctor obviously feels strongly about this asking, “HAVE YOU BEEN CHECKED FOR THIS?” Ask your doctors about a test called: FUNCTIONAL IMMUNE SYSTEM EVALUATION TEST.
Tests used to diagnose an immune disorder include: Blood tests. Blood tests can determine if you have normal levels of infection-fighting proteins (immunoglobulin) in your blood and measure the levels of blood cells and immune system cells. Abnormal numbers of certain cells can indicate an immune system defect.*
Dr Strand was one of the doctors credited with originally putting together the regimen of supplements discussed on Meniere’s Help and elsewhere. This regimen has been successfully used by sufferers to support their immune system and keep symptoms either to a minimum or suppress them completely since the late 1990’s.
Why cellular nutrition is important for Meniere’s Sufferers
In this very informative video he talks about the concept of ‘healthy cells’ and the importance of nutrition in avoiding and in some cases reversing degenerative diseases and health conditions such as Meniere’s Disease.
For 23 years he was opposed to and did his best to put patients off the idea of supplements, claiming they just produced “expensive urine” and had no benefits.
Listen to how and why he changed his mind.
Of course he plugs his website and Doctors practice at the end. But this is a very informative and important video for anyone considering trying these supplements used with such success. Perhaps especially the more skeptical of us.
We have long touted the benefits of one supplement product we use which has grape seed extract as its main ingredient, based on the experiences of our readers. Listen to Dr Strand’s opinion on this.
According to ClinicalTrials.gov a new set of trials are set to begin at Osaka University, related to stress and Meniere’s Disease.
One important aspect of this is that, while many doctors in the west may dismiss stress as a major factor the researchers in Osaka had this to say,
“Attacks in Meniere’s disease, characterized by vertigo and hearing loss, are well known to occur repeatedly under stressed environment.
Hitherto, its pathology was revealed to be inner ear hydrops through human temporal bone studies in 1938″
Stress And Meniere’s Disease – The Vicious Cycle
A 2013 study published in Acta Otolarygol, ‘Psychological condition in patients with intractable Meniere’s disease’ states:
“Physicians should consider additional treatment strategies for Meniere’s disease patients with a long history of disease and hearing loss in the secondary affected ear and also provide psychological support regarding future progressive bilateral hearing loss.”
This conclusion was based on the following:
“Between 1998 and 2009, we enrolled 207 patients with intractable Meniere’s disease in this prospective study. We used the Cornell Medical Index and the Self-rating Depression Scale to evaluate their psychological condition.
We also obtained demographic and background information relating to sex, age, duration of disease, vertigo frequency, hearing level in bilateral sides, and plasma vasopressin level.”
Vasopressin is stress hormone that was was initially viewed as strictly a beneficial hormone to help prevent water loss. It is also referred to as ADH, meaning ‘anti- diuretic hormone’.
This means when stress produces this hormone fluid is being retained. The most common medicine to given to Meniere’s patients is a diuretic. This is meant help reduce the fluid in the inner ear causing Meniere’s.
Vasopressin is a very damaging hormone to the body. It has been implicated as a mediator of renal injury, and acute effects including glomerular hyperfiltration and albuminuria.
Side effects of producing vasopressin include:
slow heartbeat
dizziness
headache
nausea
vomiting
Poor blood flow has been linked to Meniere’s disease. The vicious cycle of stress = Meniere’s = stress = Meniere’s is well known. If you have Meniere’s disease, there will be accompanying high stress and anxiety and in turn this will produce more Meniere’s symptoms.
Dizziness, headaches, nausea and vomiting with vertigo are all symptoms of Meniere’s.
Fight or flight fear literally turns the immune system off. A constant drip feeding of fear then, must impair the immune system constantly.
Stress, anxiety, fear and anger are extremely detrimental to human cellular health. The body has to be constantly in a state of building, regeneration on cells. Stress hormone impairs that process and can result in disease states developing.
This is why people who are calm, happy, meditate often are usually much healthier than constantly stressed or angry people.
It would seem stress can be both a contributing trigger and perhaps a root cause of Meniere’s disease.
The results of the above mentioned study were:
“Neurosis and depression was diagnosed in 40.1% and 60.4%, respectively, of patients with intractable Meniere’s disease.
Our results showed that surgical treatment significantly improved vertigo and hearing ability in patients with no psychological symptoms compared with those exhibiting psychological symptoms.
Patients with a longer duration and worse hearing level in the secondary affected ear had a significantly higher incidence of mental illness than those with a shorter duration and better level of hearing.”
Can L-lysine reduce the symptoms of Meniere’s Disease?
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Anti-viral treatments and L-lysine for Meniere’s disease
One of the many possible root causes of Meniere’s disease is thought to be viral in origin.
Because of the relative success of various anti-viral treatments in some people this belief has held ground over many years.
If you have ever had a cold sore, the virus can show up in your blood test, so the study done in Hokkaido Japan showing that high numbers of Meniere’s sufferers have this present appears slightly flawed.
That said, viral infections are a possible cause to check for and rule out. It does have to be said that at least some people contact Meniere’s Help and say Valtrex has helped them reduce their symptoms.
The same cane be said of L-lysine.
L-Lysine Study: Recovery of Hearing in Meniere’s Disease after Antiviral Treatment
According to a study published in the American Journal of Otolaryngology published in 2014, ‘Recovery of Hearing in Meniere’s Disease after Antiviral Treatment,’“Out of thirty one Meniere’s patients hearing was improved in twelve and not improved in nineteen of those patients.
Complete control of vertigo was achieved in those patients with improved hearing. It may be important to note that the duration of Meniere’s in the group with hearing improvement was shorter (2.4 years) than the group with no improvement (5.5 years).”
Valtrex (valacyclovir) -anti viral medicine
Valtrex (valacyclovir) is an antiviral drug. It slows the growth and spread of the herpes virus to help the body fight the infection. Valtrex will not cure herpes and will not prevent you from spreading the virus to other people. However, this medicine can lessen the symptoms of an infection.
Moreover, Valtrex may also harm your kidneys. This effect is increased when you also use certain other medicines, including: antivirals, chemotherapy, injected antibiotics, medicine for bowel disorders, medicine to prevent organ transplant rejection, injectable osteoporosis medication, and some pain or arthritis medicines (including aspirin, Tylenol, Advil, and Aleve).
Valtrex or valacyclovir is what is known as purine nucleoside class of drug. Purine nucleosides are antiviral agents that have selective activity against herpes simplex virus types 1 (cold sores) and 2 (genital herpes) and varicella zoster virus (chicken pox).
The purine nucleoside molecule is converted to a monophosphate by viral thymidine kinases. The monophosphate is then converted to diphosphate and then into a triphosphate form by cellular enzymes.
The triphosphate form blocks the replication of viral DNA by inhibiting viral DNA polymerase and terminating the growing viral DNA chain.
Other drugs may interact with valacyclovir, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal products.
Possible side effects of Valtrex include:
confusion, aggression, feeling shaky or unsteady
hallucinations
problems with speech
a seizure (convulsions)
kidney problems–little or no urination, painful or difficult urination, swelling in your feet or ankles, feeling tired or short of breath.
fever, pale skin;
unusual bleeding (nosebleeds, bleeding gums)
red or pink urine, little or no urination
red spots on the skin (not related to herpes or chickenpox)
feeling weak or tired
stomach pain, bloody diarrhea, vomiting
swelling in your face, hands, or feet
More common side effects are:
nausea, stomach pain
headache
rash
tired feeling
Perhaps a much safer natural alternative to Valtrex and other synthetic anti-viral drugs, and one with little to no known side effects is L-Lysine.
Using L-lysine for Meniere’s Disease
L-Lysine is a natural essential amino acid that the body uses to build proteins, the same protein building block that helps treat cold sores and can also help fight cancer.
In fact L-Lysine also benefits the brain and gut. Gut issues are also linked to Meniere’s disease. Low lysine levels have been found in people with Parkinson’s, hypothyroidism, kidney disease, asthma, and depression.
L-lysine is an essential amino acid, meaning it is necessary for human health, but the body cannot make it. You have to get L-lysine from food or supplements.
Foods high in L-lysine include:
meats
sea food
eggs
yogurt
legumes
potatoes
tomatoes
beets
avocado
Spirulina also has high amounts of lysine.
Viruses need arginine – another amino acid – to reproduce, but several studies have found that l-lysine blocks arginine activity. This can help prevent viruses spreading, or reduce the length of infections.
L-lysine is known to be particularly effective at tackling the virus that causes cold sores, herpes simplex 1, so could it also help with viral ear infections?
There’s an increasing amount of anecdotal evidence that taking l-lysine can help relieve the symptoms of Meniere’s disease such as vertigo, tinnitus, or pain and pressure in the inner ear.
The evidence may be “anecdotal” but do not let that discredit the possibility that it may help. Anything helping any health condition that is natural will always be labelled “anecdotal” because giant pharmaceutical companies will never pay for test or studies.
Nature cannot be patented so there is no chance on monopolizing the market. The big money for studies, trials and tests will only go to pharmaceuticals that can be patented. This is the way the medical “industry” works.
If either valtrex and other anti viral medications or L-lysine work in a Meniere’s patient then that would suggest that indeed, in this particular case a virus is persistently present.
This would mean the regular use of either valtrex or L-lysine would be needed. Chose wisely which one you would use.
Bottom line, it is an elimination process when trying to find your individual root cause and dealing with it. When considering possible causes of your Meniere’s symptoms herpes should be one of the several possible root causes checked for.
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