Tag: Meniere’s Syndrome

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General Information on Meniere's Disease / Syndrome Meniere's Disease Success Stories Meniere's Disease Triggers & Causes

Overcoming Meniere’s Disease

By Mike Spencer

Founder of Meniere’s Help

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

Is overcoming Meniere’s disease possible?

The official line on Meniere’s disease is that it is treatable but there is no known cause and no known cure. This is what the vast majority of sufferers are told and of course most believe; why wouldn’t they? Tell a patient who has been suffering for many years and believes they have tried everything, that actually there are known causes and therefore known solutions and you could be met with disbelief, disdain and even anger.

This is understandable considering what the sufferer has had to live through and the fact they have constantly been told health professionals that there absolutely is no cure. The literature and online medical websites agree, there is no known cause and no know cure, so it must be true right?

Not exactly!

How do I know? Well read on below, but for starters…..

At the time of writing, I have had a 21 year association with Meniere’s.

  • I suffered the worst Meniere’s has to offer for 7 years and thought I had tried everything, including very costly, damaging and unsuccessful surgery.
  • For 10 years I lived 95% symptom free through simple but profound dietary and lifestyle changes.
  • Since 2012 I have been completely free of Meniere’s.
  • For 13 years I have been supporting other sufferers.
  • For 7 years I have been a full time independent researcher and writer on Meniere’s. In that time I have corresponded and spoken to thousands of sufferers, doctors, scientists and other health professionals in regards to Meniere’s.
  • Most importantly I have watched thousands of sufferers regain their life, either by reducing or eliminating their symptoms or actually eliminating Meniere’s from their life completely. Many  of these people had been suffering for many years and most of these people had been told there was nothing more to be done.

So I humbly state that I think I may know a thing or two about Meniere’s by now and I state more strongly that you CAN overcome it, one way or another.

True, there is no ‘miracle cure’, ‘magical super drug’ or any one ‘silver bullet’ that can cure you of Meniere’s but I can confidently say that you absolutely can overcome it.

While nothing is written in stone with this condition and there is no one size fits all, there are some universal truths that apply to all sufferers. You need to gain a true understanding about what you are really dealing with, correlate this with your own individual circumstances, then take the appropriate action and this often needs diligence.

If there were some magical miracle cure I wouldn’t have had to spend so many years researching, communicating with so many sufferers and health professionals or write two books totaling 475 pages to help people overcome this.

In addition to the two self help books published since 2013 , I have been running Meniere’s Help for 13 years, the main website has over 20 pages and this blog over 100 articles and posts. The aim of Meniere’s Help is to help sufferers recover from this horrendous condition or to put it in terms sufferers understand most, help them get their life back.

The sheer numbers of people who have contacted Meniere’s Help alone who have overcome Meniere’s successfully stand as testimony that this can be done, not to mention my own personal case which you might find interesting to read about.

Click here to read Mike’s Meniere’s Story

In the past 4 or 5 years, the vast majority of sufferers who have contacted Meniere’s Help, beaten this condition and regained their lives have read Managing Meniere’s Disease and The Need for Balance. Prior to my writing these books, it was often the sufferers themselves who were the greatest sources of helpful information, through both their successful experiences and their problems. Some of their stories are in the books. I correlate their experiences with scientific medical studies, data and statistics to back everything up and prove it is never a case of simply hearsay much less placebo effect.

It can sometimes need a quantum shift in perception and attitude towards Meniere’s in some people before this becomes obvious.

  • The first two steps in overcoming Meniere’s is to change your perception of what you are dealing with and refuse to accept the entrenched dogma of drugs to ‘treat symptoms’, surgery and the all too often spouted “learn to live with it“.
  • The next step is to manage your condition, stabilizing your symptoms so you can at least function normally again.
  • The final step is to identify and eliminate or correct your own individual root cause(s) so you never have to worry about the symptoms returning.

You need to educate yourself, take that knowledge, correlate it with your own particular case then take action, be that something you need to do yourself or take the information to an appropriate health professional to get checked and/or treated.

If you strip away the label ‘Meniere’s‘, see this idiopathic condition for what it is, simply a set of symptoms, then investigate the pathology of these symptoms you soon find both the root causes and more importantly solutions are indeed known. It may be surprising to some that these possible root causes are actually documented in scientific peer reviewed medical studies, data and statistics. Which begs the question then why are treating health professionals not aware of this?

Some are.

It just depends on which health professional you ask. On average, an ENT doctor or a so called  “Meniere’s specialist” will be very compartmentalized and concentrate only on a narrow area of expertise surrounding the ear, nose and throat.

Very few will have comprehensive knowledge of and understand the implications of gut issues, a misaligned musculoskeletal frame, immune system disorders, dental and jaw issues, toxicity or allergies. Fewer still will have any real in depth knowledge of nutrition.

Yet any one of these areas could be where the root cause for Meniere’s symptoms begin in any one individual. This is documented fact in studies cited in many articles on this blog and the evidence of testimonials from sufferers who have contacted Meniere’s Help over the past 13 years, you could say are further proof of this.

The simple fact is that everything within the body is connected and once something becomes out of balance or dysfunctional it can lead to a domino effect or knock on effect and result in dysfunctions and conditions that at first glance may seem totally unconnected.

Health professionals who understand this and take a more holistic approach are still relatively rare but the numbers are certainly growing. It surely must be the obvious common sense approach and how medicine should be practiced. Prevention and correcting root causes rather than the perpetual writing of prescriptions for drugs to simply try to treat resulting symptoms.

The problem with this condition is, simply because of the general perception of “Meniere’s” and its definition as “idiopathic” it means if you do find your root cause, correct or eliminate it and no longer suffer from any symptoms then you will be told you didn’t have “true Meniere’s“. 

There can never be a definitive cure because there is no definitive cause.  So then what is needed is to find your own cause, or causes (there can be more than one) in your own particular case. Do that and you have found the key to your own particular cure. The question is, do you stubbornly stick with the official line and continue to suffer or do you take things into your own hands and free yourself from this horrendous set of symptoms?

You might ask, “but where do I start once I have changed my perception?”

This is one of several reasons why I spent 7 years researching and writing books on the subject. There are too many variants and differences in each sufferer to do anything else. If there weren’t we could be shouting “we have the cure” and write it in one blog post. That is not the case though.

Meniere’s Disease has several possible root causes, many triggers and contributing factors in each individual case. Find your cause and you have in effect found the key to your solution, cure, answer or what ever words you want to use to describe eliminating these symptoms from your life.

Make no mistake, this can be done, it has been done and is being done all the time. Thousands have done this to my knowledge alone, including myself of course.

The need for Balance is not only true for the inner ear but everywhere in your body, from micro cellular level to musculoskeletal level.

When something is out of sync elsewhere inside the body, this can lead to a knock on effect, or domino effect that ultimately can result in inner ear dysfunction. This is in fact must be true for many disorders and diseases. You do not have to dig that deep to discover this is a simple biological fact.

The problem both doctors and patients face is that modern medical culture is geared almost exclusively to treating the end results, treating the symptoms; never looking for the cause.

Dr Amy Myers, New York best seller with her book ‘The Thyroid connection‘ explains this very well regarding how autoimmune disease is treated. You can read her comments in the article: Can Meniere’s disease be caused by Autoimmunity?

To paraphrase her: autoimmune disease attacks different organs. The sufferer will be sent to a doctor or specialist connected to that specific organ. Treatments will then be administered to stop the symptoms. These drugs will often have side effects in other parts of the body and then the sufferer will go through the same process again. Yet the root problem is what is causing the autoimmune response. Autoimmune disease is a dysfunction of the actual immune system, not the targeted organ. So if the sufferer wants to free themselves from the symptoms completely, the immune system in general is what should be concentrated upon.

The same goes for Meniere’s. The ear is the targeted organ, or the dysfunction of the inner ear is the end result. You need to find what the root cause of that is in your particular case. And it may be rare that it is in or around the actual ear.

From the endocrine system, metabolism and thyroid, the gut, blood flow, the back, the neck, the jaw, dental issues and importantly the immune system in general. Any one of these and more, if dysfunctional or out of balance, may lead to the symptoms of Meniere’s eventually manifesting. Balance in your lifestyle and diet is also important. Poor diet can lead to many dysfunctions and disorders, while prolonged stress can manifest poor health in many different ways, including Meniere’s.

When you have Meniere’s disease, you lose balance in inner ear equilibrium but, as stated above, this loss of balance can be a result of imbalances elsewhere within your body or even your life. Learn how to bring your body and lifestyle back into balance, regain homeostasis and you can stop the symptoms of Meniere’s.

Given the right conditions, the human body can be the best hospital possible. It needs you to create the right conditions and be the best doctor.

Can you really reduce or stop your symptoms? Moreover, can you free yourself from Meniere’s completely?

The evidence from thousands Meniere’s Help has supported over the past 13 years shows us without doubt that yes, absolutely you can.

The answer to this in your own case, can very much depend on you. As stated above, it may take a quantum shift in perception and attitude to what you are dealing with, so then the next question is……..

Do you think you are ready or prepared to do whatever it is you need to overcome Meniere’s?

What value do you really put on regaining your health and your life? Are you willing to actually do what it takes? You may be thinking to yourself, “of course I am ready, why wouldn’t I be?”

Consider the fact that a huge percentage of smokers, when told they have lung cancer continue to smoke. Why is that? We really can be our body’s own worst enemies sometimes, and I do not exclude myself when saying that.

When readers of  ‘Managing Meniere’s’ and ‘The Need for Balance’ email Meniere’s Help and say things like, “You saved my life“, this is something money cannot buy.

To me such words are priceless. Not the somewhat over the top flattery of these words but the fact that yet another sufferer has beaten this condition. I suffered horribly for 7 years, I know how you feel if you are a sufferer and I would not wish Meniere’s on my worst enemy.

I rarely publish these types of emails on Meniere’s Help for fear of giving the impression of hype and sensationalism. Trust and integrity is very important in what I do. After all, this is a condition where most fear they are stuck with Meniere’s and often get told they have to learn to live with it, there is nothing more to be done.

The fact is, nothing could be further from the truth.

These flattering messages are slightly embarrassing for me and not really true; it was the sufferer who refused to accept they would just have to ‘learn to live with it”, they got proactive, took the appropriate action in their individual case and got themselves healed . They just needed the right information and pointers in the right direction.

You can read some messages from readers I actually do publish here and here.

If you are suffering from Meniere’s, I know you feel like you would do anything to get your life back; to feel normal again, right? There came a time when I would have drunk kitchen bleach if I thought it would have helped; I was that desperate. I also know how you feel if you are somewhat skeptical or your BS detector is flashing. I was once in the same mindset as you and I have seen a lot of nonsense so called ‘cures‘ come and go on the internet over the years.  Healthy skepticism is a good thing in my eyes, but at the same time a closed mind will never free you of Meniere’s or any other ‘dis’ ‘ease’ either.

Simply put, you need to know the how and why, then the what you can do about it. This is what the Need for Balance is there for. Ultimately to give you the information you need to free yourself of Meniere’s.

It may sound like a strange question, but are you really, honestly, ready to do whatever is needed in your case, to live symptom free or even overcome Meniere’s completely, despite all the negativity and naysayers surrounding this condition?

Many sufferers are convinced overcoming Meniere’s disease is simply not possible. This is what they have been told, what they have read. So the very first hurdle to overcome is this understandable, yet wrongly held belief.

How about you?

Albert Einstein allegedly once said, “The one who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The one that walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been.“

If you simply accept the commonly held belief that there is no known cause or cure and that there is no getting over Meniere’s then that is exactly where you will remain, stuck in a cycle of vertigo attacks, brain fog, tinnitus and everything else that comes with this condition. You will be stuck with too many other sufferers going round in circles dependent on drugs that at best give negligible levels of relief and possible side effects, or worse, you will end up gambling with intrusive or destructive surgery as I once foolishly did. You will be entrenched in hopelessness.  In short, you will be stuck with Meniere’s ‘disease’.

If you are ready to stop accepting the little to no hope dogma of treat the symptoms with drugs, “nothing more to be done” and “learn to live with it“. If you are ready to educate yourself and take the appropriate action needed in your own case. If you are ready to take your life back, you are in the right place to start.

If your treating health professionals have told you there is nothing more to be done, then it is down to YOU to get proactive. As stated above overcoming Meniere’s completely can be done, has been done and is being done all the time.

Are you ready to start getting your life back? Contrary to popular misguided belief, overcoming Meniere’s disease is very achievable. 

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

Related articles:

Book Review: The Need for Balance; Dealing with the Causes of Meniere’s Disease

Help other Meniere’s sufferers. Do you have a success story to tell? Have you reduced, managed or completely freed yourself of Meniere’s symptoms?  Email Mike at: meniereshelp@gmail.com or tell us all about it in the comments box below

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

Diabetes and Meniere’s Disease

Diabetes and Meniere’s Disease – what are the links?

What are the links between diabetes and Meniere’s disease?

Are the two connected at all, is it all coincidence or are the two a result of the same root cause in some people?

A sizable number of Meniere’s sufferers who contact Meniere’s Help also suffer from Diabetes. Glucose metabolism, and insulin irregularities have both been linked to Meniere’s in some way or another.

The biggest problem with trying to link diabetes and Meniere’s is that the huge number of people suffering from diabetes means that by law of averages there will naturally be a sizable number of people suffering from both conditions.

According to the WHO:  422 million adults worldwide have diabetes. That is 1 person in 11. While type 1 is thought of as genetic, 90% of sufferers are actually type 2.  These statistics are predicted to double over the next 2 years. Since 1980 the number of adults living with diabetes has almost quadrupled.

In the USA 2012 figures show us that at least 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3% of the population, had diabetes. 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year. In 2012, 86 million Americans age 20 and older had prediabetes; this was up from 79 million in 2010. These statistics are staggering; clearly this is not going away soon.

Although the main focus on the tackling of this rise of diabetes is aimed at the obesity epidemic, and rightly so, it has to be taken into account that diabetes is on the rise in places like Asia where obesity isn’t so prevalent. The rise of forced farming practices in recent years practically runs parallel with the increase of diabetes and many other avoidable diseases.

In the 2016 WHO ‘Global Report on Diabetes’ the director general of the WHO points out that diabetes is, “No longer a disease of predominantly rich nations, the prevalence of diabetes is steadily increasing everywhere, most markedly in the world’s middle-income countries.”

The globalization of fast food chains, growing global demand for wheat grown on soils depleted of its mineral content through the overuse of NPK artificial fertilizers and the demand for overly polished rice must all play its part.

White bread can turn to glucose inside the body faster than sugar! White, polished rice can turn to glucose very quickly also if not balanced with fats or proteins. Add to this the empty carbohydrates being proudly stuffed down kids throats throughout Asia where it is a sign of wealth to go to the most unhealthy fast food chains simply because they symbolize the monetary richness of the west.

Sugary sodas, alcohol, candies and the prevalence of processed foods are all contributing greatly to this problem. This bombardment of sugars strains the pancreas so much that it cannot keep up with the demand for insulin to regulate blood sugar levels.

There are several aspects that link all of this to Meniere’s without looking at the diabetes connection itself. Firstly the pancreas is part of the endocrine system. Endocrine dysfunctions have been linked to Meniere’s. The thyroid is part of the endocrine system and has been linked to Meniere’s. T-cell regulation has been linked to Meniere’s. T-cells are regulated by the thymus which in turn is regulated by the thyroid. Metabolism has been linked to Meniere’s. High triglyceride and cholesterol levels have been linked to Meniere’s.

Are you seeing a pattern here?

Diabetes and Meniere’s Disease – studies

A multitude of studies can be found on each of the individual links stated above but not enough focus on the obvious solution to most of this. Diet. It really is that simple.

What you eat and do not eat makes all the difference in every case, and of course the same is true of diabetes.

Both hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) have been linked to and investigated in Meniere’s and vestibular diseases. This suggests that any alterations in insulin can cause issues. Insulin regulates both sodium and potassium retention, something very relevant in the functioning of the inner ear.

A 2009 study in the Brazilian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology, ‘Blood glucose and insulin levels in patients with peripheral vestibular disease‘  found that:

“The four-hour glucose-insulin index showed 87.7% of patients with dizziness and suspicion of peripheral vestibular dysfunction having glucose and insulin metabolism alterations.”

The International Tinnitus Journal published a study in 2005, ‘Glucose and insulin profiles and their correlations in Ménière’s disease.’ It stated that:

“Changes in carbohydrate metabolism, admittedly one of the most prevalent etiologies of Ménière’s syndrome, can be diagnosed early by 5-hour glucose and insulin curves with a 100-g glucose load, a test more sensitive than those traditionally used in investigating impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes mellitus. This study investigated carbohydrate metabolism characteristics in 64 patients with typical Ménière’s disease. We demonstrated that 72% of them had some variable degree of hyperinsulinemia as shown by their plasma insulin curves, whereas alterations on the glucose curve (reactive hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia) were found for only 21%.”

It concluded that:

“These findings confirm the need to include 5-hour glucose and insulin curves in the diagnostic routine when investigating Ménière’s disease. In that way, an early diagnosis of hyperinsulinemia, the metabolic change most often involved in the pathogenesis of cochleovestibular disorders, can be made.”

An earlier study published in Acta Otolaryngologica in 1984, ‘Blood levels of glucose and insulin in Meniere’s disease‘ stated the following:

“It has been reported that a very commonly overlooked cause of vertigo is disorder of glucose metabolism. This may not be reflected in the glucose tolerance test alone, but becomes obvious when the insulin levels in blood are evaluated simultaneously.

Thirty-one patients with Meniere’s disease underwent a 5-hour glucose tolerance test with radioimmune assay of insulin. It was found that 67.7% of our patients showed some abnormality in the relationship between the blood levels of glucose and insulin.”

The studies above, in addition to several others connecting insulin and glucose to Meniere’s are all cited on PubMed.

More specific to diabetes is the 2013 study published on Science Direct from the Journal of Otology, ‘Effects of Diabetes on Hearing and Cochlear Structures’.

“Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic systemic disease characterized by hyperglycemia, with various pathogenic mechanisms. From absolute or relative insulin deficiency, patients with DM often demonstrate various levels of metabolic disorders. Major clinical manifestations of DM include metabolic disorders, vascular lesions, circulatory disturbances and neurologic complications. Along with advances in DM research, reports of DM related tinnitus and hearing impairment have increased continuously.

DM is closely linked to hearing damage. Both large and microscopic size blood vessels are affected in DM. Metabolic disorders, atherosclerotic changes and micro vessel diseases result in ischemia and hypoxia in neural tissues, leading to nerve damage. When such pathological changes involve the cochlea and auditory nerve, cochlear and/or neural hearing loss follows.”

Although this study does not mention ‘Meniere’s disease’ it shows us how blood flow, insulin and metabolic disorders can affect ear function.

It is a fact that Meniere’s help has received many emails from people who suffer from both Meniere’s disease and diabetes. In some cases diabetes preceded the symptoms of Meniere’s, while with others it was the other way round. So proving a link between Meniere’s and diabetes itself is hard to do. However, several of the factors that lead to diabetes can also be linked to Meniere’s.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to what you eat and do not eat. If the onset of Meniere’s is related to metabolism, endocrine disorders or thyroid dysfunction for example then the same reasons these problems occur could be the same reasons at root cause that Meniere’s symptoms manifest. Poor diet and lifestyle causes dysfunctions throughout the body that can lead to various conditions including both Meniere’s and diabetes.

We have received updates from Meniere’s sufferers in the past where, when they changed their diet, lifestyle and in many cases used a specific supplement regimen they not only reduced or eliminated their Meniere’s symptoms but also improved their condition related to diabetes.

This underscores the importance of the right nutrition. No remedy or drug can compensate for a poor diet. However a good healthy whole food (organic where possible) diet supported by quality supplementation can reduce the symptoms of, reverse or eliminate many conditions, Meniere’s and diabetes among them.

At precisely the same time I was writing this article The Express news paper online published a report, ‘Removing bread and pasta from diets ‘can reverse Type 2 diabetes’

Diabetes.co.uk, the world’s largest community of sufferers revealed that 7,000 Type 2 patients using a low refined carbohydrate dietary program saved £6.9 million on medication in a year. They claimed that,

“Slashing consumption of rice, potatoes and sugar has the potential to halt one of Britain’s biggest health epidemics. Switching to a healthier lifestyle could save the cash-strapped NHS £10 billion a year – the amount spent treating the condition – and change people’s lives in just 12 months.”

Co-author of the book this study is published in, Dr Aseem Malhotra said,

“The good news is it’s entirely preventable – but also reversible – and simple dietary changes through cutting refined carbohydrates can at the very least help patients come off medications. Simple diet changes have rapid and substantial benefits not just for patients with Type 2 but for high blood pressure and heart disease too.”

Charlotte Summers, of Diabetes.co.uk said,

“We are seeing phenomenal results from people taking a lifestyle first approach on the low carb program which is saving NHS budgets and lives.”

Type in “diabetes diet” or something similar into your search engine and you will find a plethora of diet plans online for diabetics.

Can type 2 diabetes be reversed?

In a simple 12-minute presentation to the U.K. Parliament, Zoe Harcombe, Ph.D., who spent years researching dietary guidelines as they relate to nutrition and obesity, succinctly demonstrates how bad science supports rising rates of diabetes and other nutritionally triggered diseases.

For Meniere’s the right diet and supplementation can help the immune system deal with the inflammation causing the symptoms. Dealing with the cause of the inflammation on the other hand often needs more than simply the correct diet. This depends on the root of the problem and there are several for you to consider.

Finding the root cause or causes of Meniere’s in your own individual case can be done though. If you find your root cause, you have found the key to your cure or solution, whichever words you choose to use. Eliminate or correct the root cause and you can overcome Meniere’s completely. This is something we have constantly seen among sufferers over the past 13 years of support work.

Finally, it is important that if you are both a diabetic and have Meniere’s you should be careful using steroids as a treatment for your Meniere’s.  Increases in blood glucose are common among people taking prednisone and other steroids. These steroids are referred to as ‘glucocorticoids’. Perhaps of even more significance is the fact that long term use of these steroids can produce “Steroid induced diabetes” and a host of other very serious conditions.

According to a study  ‘Steroid-induced diabetes‘ cited on PubMed.gov in 2014,  “Glucocorticoids have various common metabolic side effects including hypertension, osteoporosis and diabetes. As the therapeutic benefits of glucocorticoids continue to expand across medical specialties, the incidence of steroid-induced or steroid-exacerbated diabetes will continue to rise.”

There are plenty of ways to reduce inflammation naturally to tackle your Meniere’s symptoms. If you have the choice of steroids or the right foods, which will you choose?

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

Related articles:

Hypoglycemia and Meniere’s disease
Metabolism and Meniere’s Disease
Cholesterol and Meniere’s Disease

By Mike Spencer

Founder of Meniere’s Help

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. Do have experience with Meniere’s and diabetes? Tell us all about it in the comments boxes below or email Mike at meniereshelp@gmail.com

Reference/Further reading: Possible effect of diabetes and hypertension on the quality of life of patients suffering from Ménière’s disease

Categories
General Information on Meniere's Disease / Syndrome Meniere's Disease Success Stories Meniere's Disease Triggers & Causes

Can Chiropractics cure Meniere’s disease?

Can Chiropractics cure Meniere’s disease? Two real accounts from sufferers

Can chiropractics cure Meniere’s disease?  For many sufferering the symptoms of Meniere’s, it does seem to be a solution. 

After being told by three separate doctors that she had Meniere’s disease and being given the usual mix of diuretics and Serc (betahistine), nobody mentioned to Ana how she could actually free herself of Meniere’s completely, only treat it. Which of course they very rarely do.

Options such as Chiropractics, that can actually help you overcome Meniere’s completely, are not usually on the radar of the average ENT’s or audiologist. And not all chiropractors are able to help the symptoms of dizziness/vertigo, deafness and tinnitus. 

Each individual case of Meniere’s disease may be slightly different, sometimes very different in its overall pathology or root cause. The need soon becomes very apparent for the sufferer to identify their own cause and deal with it accordingly.

If you have been told, “There is nothing more to be done, take the drugs and learn to live with it” then of course it is down to you to take things into your own hands.

Learn how to do this by reading: The Need for Balance – Dealing with the Causes of Meniere’s

Ana’s case

In Ana’s case, she was lucky enough to find her root cause within months and now says she feels ‘cured‘.

Here below is her first email (used with permission):

In Ana’s case she found her cause to be related to neck issues. Excerpt from Ana’s mail:

“I want to share my experience. I am a Mexican 40 years old mother of two kids. I was diagnosed with Menieres early April, I had a very strong vertigo episode, lost 30% of hearing and had this noise on my left ear. I was with the medicine for almost three months (Serc, and a diuretic), of course no sodium, no alcohol, very little caffeine.

I read your page in April and saw all the alternative medicine but I am a University teacher so I had to wait until the semester was over to have some time and go visit the chiropractic. And as soon as I went to the first visit I felt the change, I stop taking the medicines and I eat normal, no sodium restriction, I have not exaggerated but eat normal food and feel great.

My ears are perfect, I am back to me.

I would not had visited the chiropractic if it wasn’t for your information so Thank you very very much! You guys gave me back my life. I wish more people would know about this, because I visited three doctors and they didn’t tell me anything about this possibility and I know they didn’t know because two of them were my relatives.

Thanks a lot!”

I asked Ana if I could use her story on this blog to encourage other sufferers. Below is her response:

“Hi Mike,

Sure please do so. And send a huge hug to the person that wrote about the chiropractic….I didn’t find it anywhere else.
I have a PhD in biotechnology so I am used to read scientific literature, but when it is about myself it is kind of depressing read stuff about Meniere, so I was reading slowly to try no to be overwhelmed. I still can’t believe that none of the three doctors that I visited (and gave me the same Meniere diagnosis) told me about the possibility of having a problem in the cervical vertebrae and that it was possible to fix it. One told me it was probably because I ate too much salt, the other because of too much stress, and the other one it was probably autoimmune, and I believed that it was probably caused because of a medicine (domperidone) that I took and there are two cases that relate it to menieres in the FDA . But I read you article which was straight to the point and started to do a check list on the alternative medicines. Not just mentioning “life style modifications” which I found in other articles and wonder…. WHAT life style modifications. So thank you thank you!

I wish more people knew about the chiropractic and find that solution. Probably that is not the case for all… but it is worth to try it, and of course to go with someone that knows how to treat it, probably not all chiropractics would know how to treat it but this guy is very good.

Million thanks!

Ana Leal”

The point of posting Ana’s story is to encourage you the sufferer to understand Meniere’s is not as hopeless as you may have been led to believe. On the contrary, you CAN overcome this condition completely.

Cervical spine misalignment may or may not be relative to your own condition. If it is, it is important that you get checked by a reputable cervical certified chiropractor or osteopath. This can be fixed. Ana’s story is not uncommon. In fact it is one of the more common themes we have come across over many years. We often get mails from sufferers who have found this to be their root cause, fixed it and overcome Meniere’s.

Kelly’s case

Kelly from US emailed Meniere’s Help with a similar story a few months ago.

Kelly read both of my books Managing Meniere’s Disease and The Need for Balance and we had also corresponded before I received an email from her with her story:

During our correspondence it was clear that Kelly was aware she had both allergies and neck issues.  Kelly dealt both with her allergies and neck issues to free herself of Meniere’s symptoms. She wrote,

“I did some research on Meniere’s & found you (Thank God). I made an appointment with an Allergist & an Atlas Orthogonist. They have both helped me tremendously. I found out I am allergic to dust mites, feathers, cats, dogs, ragweed, weeds, grass pollen, cockroach, molds, tree pollen and pine. The Dr put me on allergy medicine and a nasal spray. I haven’t felt dizzy or had a headache since“

In regards to her neck issues, she was shown on her MRI where the nerve was being pinched & the blood flow was being cut off.  She went on to say,

“When I went to the back doctor she discovered I have C1/C2 misalignment, loss of cervical curve, herniated discs in cervical spine. In her words, “You’re one twisted girl”. My x-rays show how tilted my head is. It’s leaning to the right. You can also see on my MRI where the nerve is being pinched & the blood flow is being cut off. I’m on a 3 month treatment plan which includes cervical decompression & cold laser therapy. So far so good. This is the best I’ve felt in a year. Thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction.”

Neck and spinal issues are very common in Meniere’s sufferers, especially C1 and C2 but often further down the spine too. Kelly’s atlas bone being out of alignment and her shoulder being pulled down was very similar to my own case. Although I had lived for 10 years 95% symptom free through dietary changes and supplementation ( I still had slight tinnitus and deafness), it wasn’t until I saw an excellent chiropractor in Japan in 2012 and had my neck misalignment corrected that I was totally freed of Meniere’s and finally regained much of my hearing. 

Kelly’ most recent email to me read:

“Mike, I would love for you to share my story. If it can help just one person that would be awesome. I still cannot believe how great I feel. I feel like my old self again. Which I thought that person was gone forever. I just can’t thank you enough. (My husband thanks you too). So yes, you have my permission to share my story.”

Do not let lack of knowledge or lack of belief cause you to suffer one day more. You too can soon be saying “I am back to me and feel great” or ” I feel like my old self“.

Can Chiropractics cure the symptoms of Meniere’s disease?

It certainly seems a solution for many sufferers. Cervical spine issues can lead to tinnitus, deafness and vertigo/dizziness, so the neck and spine are very relevant to many with Meniere’s disease.

Cervical spine issues may or may not be relevant to your own individual Meniere’s case. If this is not the case with you then there are several other possibilities for you to consider, make a check list and get checked for.

Once you have identified what is relevant to you, you have the keys to your ‘solution’. Knowledge is useless though unless you, yourself, take the appropriate action.

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

Related articles:

Chiropractics for Meniere’s disease
Mike’s Meniere’s Story
Meniere’s Disease and Cervical Spine

By Mike Spencer

Founder of Meniere’s Help

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: Have you successfully overcome Meniere’s or do you have experience with Meniere’s and cervical spine? Tell us all about it in the comments boxes below or email Mike at meniereshelp@gmail.com

References/Further reading:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21629395/

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

Cholesterol and Meniere’s Disease

Cholesterol, Triglycerides and Meniere’s Disease

It is said that If you eat a high fat, high carbohydrate and/or a sugary diet cholesterol could be depositing plaque on your blood vessel walls. If this is the case, then your blood flow could be restricted. Poor blood flow in and around the ear is the very opposite to what you want. The ear needs a smooth flow of blood in and out of the ear or complications can occur. If you suffer from Meniere’s disease, could high cholesterol be making things a lot worse for you?

It must be remembered that not all cholesterol is bad. The brain is the most cholesterol dense organ in the body. Your brain accounts for 2% of your body weight yet contains 20% of your body weight. Moreover, there is no conclusive evidence that proves dietary cholesterol through dairy products changes the amount of cholesterol in the blood stream.

Triglycerides

High triglyceride counts may be significant for the same reason as cholesterol. Large numbers of people suffering from Meniere’s are found to have elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels.  The deeper significance of this as a causal factor may be misleading in that the average diet and lifestyle in most industrialized countries now produces a population that may often have these elevated levels but not everyone suffers from Meniere’s.

In addition to this, most Meniere’s patients will be on diuretics such as hydrochlorothiazide. One side effect of these drugs can be an increase in triglycerides and low density lipoprotein (LDL) or ‘bad’ cholesterol.

On the other hand, as you will read in the last section of this article, high triglycerides may be a sign of other dysfunctions within the body that can indeed impact on the condition of a Meniere’s sufferer.

For 50 years doctors have been telling patients that eggs increased cholesterol, but an extensive study published in JAMA ( Journal for the American medical association) in 2014 showed that it turns out that advice was wrong and that excess sugar in fact is much worse for cholesterol. The study highlighted soda as one of the biggest culprits.

Regardless, if there is plaque buildup, this can affect blood flow. Blood flow is very important. While build up of cholesterol can also trigger the immune system into an inflammatory response. Inflammation is a major reason for Meniere’s symptoms.

The right nutrition to help the immune system fight inflammation and promote blood flow has produced the best results in reducing symptoms of Meniere’s that we have seen. We have constantly seen all the evidence of this for 13 years. While the two most recent drugs to be lauded as treatments for Meniere’s, OTO-104 and SPI-1005  are aimed at reducing inflammation.

In addition to this, researchers at the University of Colorado claim they may have a plan to “disable” Meniere’s Disease through improving blood flow.

So you have the choice of reducing inflammation and increasing blood flow naturally or by using drugs. Either way, whether you have Meniere’s or not, it is acknowledged by almost everyone now that reducing ‘bad’ cholesterol is a wise choice for your general health. How we do that is the debate.

Is Cholesterol relevant in Meniere’s Disease?

PLAQUE

Plaque is a collection of excess cholesterol covered by a scar that is deposited on artery walls. In most cases, this buildup results after years of having high cholesterol. The largest buildups are most likely to cause angina. Small buildups of this substance are thought to be unstable and more likely to rupture, releasing their contents into the bloodstream, possibly causing a blood clot that may trigger a heart attack.

What Is Plaque?
When talking about cholesterol, it is helpful to understand plaque. The effect of plaque buildup in the arteries is the main cause of heart disease, heart attacks in people with high cholesterol and many other ‘health’ conditions.

How Does It Develop?

Cholesterol is a major ingredient in the plaque that builds up in the arteries.

Excess cholesterol is deposited on the artery walls as it travels through the bloodstream. Then, special cells in the artery wall gobble up this excess cholesterol, creating a “bump” in the artery wall. This cholesterol-rich “bump” then is covered by a scar that produces a hard coat or shell over the cholesterol and cell mixture. It is this collection of cholesterol covered by a scar that is called plaque. The buildup of plaque is known as atherosclerosis

Impact of Plaque

The plaque buildup narrows the space in the coronary arteries through which blood can flow, decreasing the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the heart. If not enough oxygen-carrying blood can pass through the narrowed arteries to reach the heart muscle, the heart may respond with a pain called angina. The pain is often felt during exercise, when the heart needs more oxygen. It is typically felt in the chest or sometimes in other places, like the left arm and shoulder. This same inadequate blood supply, however, may cause no symptoms.

This plaque buildup does not occur over days, weeks, or months. Plaque buildup, in most cases, occurs over many years. If the heart is not receiving oxygen and nutrients, therefore not functioning as it should, then blood flow throughout the body will not be as it should. If there is a constriction in the veins and capillaries in and around the ear for some other reason then the added burden of plaque both in the coronary arteries and elsewhere will only compound the problem.

Reducing Plaque Buildup

Lowering cholesterol levels can slow, stop, or even reverse the buildup of plaque. This can reduce your risk of a heart attack by lowering the cholesterol content in unstable plaque, making it more stable and less prone to rupture. This is why lowering your LDL cholesterol is such an important part of reducing your risk of a heart attack. In the bigger picture, the same may go for reducing the risk of increased Menieres symptoms or even eliminating your symptoms, depending on your root cause.

Reducing triglycerides

To reduce your triglyceride levels, limit high starch foods, reduce or cut bad fats, reduce sugar intake, limit alcohol intake, limit fructose, eat omega 3 rich foods such as fish and nuts and limit refined carbohydrates such as white bread.

In fact one of the most commonly overlooked causes of high triglyceride levels is too many carbohydrates, especially in heavily refined foods. If your triglyceride levels are elevated, it can likely represent a severe abnormality of insulin balance in your body.

This is important in more ways than one. It is known that insulin in diabetics creates a sodium retaining effect. Insulin is involved in the regulation of both sodium and potassium. Both relevant to inner ear function.

So this takes us way beyond simply worrying about cholesterol. Now we are concerned with metabolism, glucose and insulin. A study published in The International Tinnitus Journal and PubMed in 2005 ‘Glucose and insulin profiles and their correlations in Ménière’s disease.’  highlighted this fact.

Quote:

“This study investigated carbohydrate metabolism characteristics in 64 patients with typical Ménière’s disease. We demonstrated that 72% of them had some variable degree of hyperinsulinemia as shown by their plasma insulin curves, whereas alterations on the glucose curve (reactive hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia) were found for only 21%. More advanced hyperinsulinemic conditions (i.e., glucose intolerance or diabetes mellitus) were usually associated with changes in lipid profiles and with a central pattern of fat distribution and systemic hypertension.”

In an earlier study it was found that:

“67.7% of our patients showed some abnormality in the relationship between the blood levels of glucose and insulin.”

You can read about Metabolism and Meniere’s here

Sugars not metabolized into energy within the body are stored as fats. Unused fats are stored as fats. Carbohydrates turn to sugars, the sugar not used is stored as fat. Highly refined carbohydrates give a sugar rush to the body and cause insulin irregularities. Insulin irregularities can cause sodium and potassium level irregularities.

You can see how everything is connected within the body and how seemingly unrelated issues may either result in Meniere’s symptoms or at least influence in some way what is happening within your ear.

Good blood flow is important to prevent Meniere’s symptoms. Anything affecting this is most likely affecting your Meniere’s condition. Anything that triggers inflammation is most likely affecting your Meniere’s condition and anything that is causing imbalances in the regulation of the electrolytes sodium and potassium and metabolism is most likely affecting your Meniere’s condition.

The root causes and triggers of any health condition can often be found not in the actual organ affected but rather elsewhere in the body.

What can you take away from this? Quite simply a good balanced diet, high in nutritious whole foods and very low on health damaging processed foods is not just some fanciful idea or a passing fad. It is essential for both overall health and can be life changing to the Meniere’s sufferer.

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

Related articles:

Hypoglycemia and Meniere’s disease
Diabetes and Meniere’s Disease
Mike’s Meniere’s Story

By Mike Spencer

Founder of Menieres Help

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. Tell us all about your experiences with cholesterol and Meniere’s. Use the comments boxes below or email Mike at meniereshelp@gmail.com

References/Further reading:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/5943955/

Categories
General Information on Meniere's Disease / Syndrome Meniere's Disease and Nutrition Meniere's Disease Success Stories

Preventing Deafness and Restoring Hearing in Meniere’s disease

Can you Prevent Deafness and Restore Hearing?

Stopping tinnitus and regaining hearing often seem the two most difficult things to achieve for some Meniere’s sufferers. But it can be done.

Audiologists are now accepting that prevention is possible through the correct diet but restoring hearing is a whole different matter. I was told by ENT doctors and audiologists that restoration of my hearing was impossible. I was told with each vertigo attack the nerve endings inside the ear were being destroyed and I would have to accept the fact I would be deaf. How deaf would depend on the level of hearing at the “burn out stage” of Meniere’s disease.

There is only a ‘burn out’ stage if the symptoms of Meniere’s are allowed to continue long term and even then there is no guarantee it will actually burn itself out. In fact I received an email days ago from a lady who had been suffering for 5 decades! Most of what I was told in the early days of my Meniere’s has been contradicted since or been simply proven to be wrong.

Sufferers who contact Meniere’s Help almost always tell of similar gloom and doom prophesies from their treating medical professionals.

However, before we go into the science and evidence in medical studies that contradict these passively accepted ‘beliefs’, I have to point out that many success stories tell of sufferers regaining their hearing and completely freeing themselves of Meniere’s, period.

In my own case, the return of my hearing was a long time coming, full of contradictions and paradoxes. For the first 5 years of my Meniere’s ‘experience’ my hearing had fluctuated greatly from terrible to almost perfect as pressure, dizziness and tinnitus increased and subsided and full blown vertigo attacks came and went.  I then made the mistake of having an endolymphatic shunt implant. It was not only ultimately unsuccessful (and expensive at around $10,000) but following the surgery my hearing no longer fluctuated but remained at a very low level.

I like many other people found relief from the vertigo and dizziness through dietary changes and the use of a quality supplement regimen. I was free of all the symptoms of Meniere’s except a very slight tinnitus. My hearing was better but nowhere near the levels on good days prior to the shunt implant. This was the case for ten years.

Other people using the same supplement regimen regularly contacted me with their success stories (some of which you can read elsewhere on this blog) and many would tell stories of how their hearing had returned. I was excited for them but rather envious too. I cursed the day I had decided to have that shunt implant. Knowing that so many others were regaining their hearing on the same regimen I was using and knowing how my hearing worsened following the implant, I was certain I was doomed to a life of deafness in my left ear.

The stories of others regaining their hearing didn’t really surprise me. Shortly after my audiologist in London had told me my hearing would never return, I went into remission naturally and suffered no symptoms at all for about 9 months. My hearing returned completely at that time.

Several years later (after the surgery) I suffered a head injury playing football. I broke my eye socket and cheek bone on the side of the affected ear. Within minutes of the injury, blood and clear fluid poured down through my sinus and out of my nose. Very quickly I noticed my sinus and my ear felt clearer than I could ever remember and suddenly I noticed I could hear very clearly through my affected ear. It was strange moment; in agony from the broken bones but elated because I could hear again.

The hearing slid back down again over the following weeks but this experience threw up many questions, the answers to which both challenged and contradicted conventional ‘beliefs’ among the mainstream medical community regarding Meniere’s. Answers that eventually resulted in the understanding as to why there is such widespread passive acceptance by ENT doctors and Meniere’s ‘specialists’ that there was no known cause of Meniere’s and no known cure.

It is important to understand that there is no known ‘definitive’ cause and therefore no known ‘definitive’ cure.  The reasons for this are simple. There are several root causes and therefore several routes to finding your individual cure. Although the resulting symptoms are the mostly the same, the roots of these symptoms can be very different in each individual case. So the answers for each case will be different.

So then, regarding the prevention and yes, the restoration of your hearing – it can be done, has been done and is being done all the time; just as sufferers can free themselves of Meniere’s completely, have done and are doing so all the time.

In my case, after living free of all other symptoms for 10 years through dietary means, it wasn’t until I was worked on by an excellent chiropractor in Japan in 2012 that my hearing returned to normal and I could say with full confidence that I no longer had ‘Meniere’s Disease”. I no longer need that expensive supplementation, though I do eat healthily and help run an organic fruit farm.

If your treating doctor has told you, ‘there is nothing more to be done, take the drugs and lean to live with it‘ then it is down to  you to get proactive, informed, and take the appropriate action needed in your individual case. This could be something you do yourself or by seeking out the appropriate health professional depending on your own individual case. Often, the roots of your symptoms can be where you least expect it and not in the realms of consideration or knowledge of ENT doctors.

After years of supporting sufferers and preaching the benefits of diet, my focus for the past 8 years of research and writing has been almost totally on root causes and how to correct them.

I have over 20 years association with this condition.  7 years of suffering, 13 years of support work and now nearly 8 years of research and writing about solutions for Meniere’s sufferers. I formally studied clinical nutrition for 4 years prior to starting serious research, corresponded with and spoke to health professionals and thousands of other sufferers who were able to live symptom free through lifestyle changes and dietary changes, including supplementation. So I know the importance and significance of what we eat and drink.

The studies and information cited below regarding prevention of hearing loss, restoration of hearing and ear health in general underscore the importance of what you eat.

When asking yourself if it is indeed even possible to restore hearing, apart from the success stories that prove it is, consider the study of epigenetics.  Long before the focus became on modification, epigenetics showed us that DNA can repair itself naturally.

Just as in the study of cellular biology shows us that cells regenerate either healthily or unhealthily depending on their environment. Both of these factors are influenced by what we eat. In fact they rely on it.  The DNA and cells in your ear are no different in this respect. You can restore your hearing, provided no destructive surgery has taken place.

What helps to restore hearing

In 2014 PubMed.gov published the findings of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999–2002 in the USA regarding ear health.

In the paper titled: ‘Healthy Diets, Healthy Hearing’ It was established that “a significant relationship between dietary nutrient intake and susceptibility to acquired hearing loss is emerging.”

The results of the survey showed, “we found a significant negative relationship between dietary quality and thresholds at higher frequencies, where higher dietary quality was associated with lower hearing thresholds.”

It concluded that, “The current findings support an association between healthier eating and lower high frequency thresholds in adults.”

Nutritional imbalances are increasingly thought to be a causative factor in hearing loss, tinnitus and in many cases Meniere’s in general. Nutrients found to be especially beneficial for protecting and improving hearing are astaxanthin, vitamin A, folate, zinc and magnesium.

The nutrients listed above support hearing health by, among other things:

  • Protecting against oxidative stress in the cochlea
  • Preventing free radical damage
  • Improving blood flow, thereby reducing cochlear damage related to a compromised vascular system
  • Improving homocysteine metabolism

Vitamin A and E

In 1984 a European study reported a 5 to 15 decibel improvement in patients with age-related hearing loss when given vitamins A and E. Other research concluded that vitamin A deficiency results in a decline in the number of sensory cells in the nose, tongue and inner ear.

In 2009, Japanese researchers found that adults with the highest blood serum levels of vitamin A and carotenoids have the lowest risk for hearing loss.

In 2014, researchers determined that vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy, especially during the early stages of fetal development ‘may predispose offspring to inner ear malformations and sensorial hearing loss.

Zinc

Research has shown zinc may be useful for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). Although this is not considered Meniere’s of course, the interesting thing is, SSNHL is thought to be viral in origin, and over half of SSNHL sufferers regain their hearing.

Zinc has anti-viral properties, and studies have shown it can prevent common cold viruses from replicating or attaching to your nasal membranes. Zinc also has immune-boosting properties, allowing your body to mount a stronger first response at the onset of a viral infection.

A study published in Laryngoscope and on PubMed in 2011 had this to say about zinc:

“There was a significant correlation between serum zinc level changes and post treatment hearing thresholds by correlation analysis, as well as between changes of serum zinc levels and percentage of recovery in the zinc group.

Zinc supplementation may enhance the hearing recovery of SSNHL patients. Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects may help reduce the oxidative stress of the cochlea in SSNHL, implying a new direction in the treatment of this disease.”

This is significant for its relevance to the ear in general but also in that the root cause of Meniere’s in some people may be viral related.

Note: Excess zinc can cause problems, so it should be obtained through a well balanced diet and/or the use of quality, balanced  supplementation in the form of multi vitamin/minerals. Indiscriminately taking zinc supplements can lead to nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea, increase the chances of prostrate cancer in men and interfere with your body’s ability to absorb other minerals, which may lead to anemia.

Some good dietary sources of zinc are:  pumpkin seeds, ground sesame seeds, cashews, almonds, crimini mushrooms, spinach, sea vegetables and cheddar cheese.

Magnesium

Magnesium can be a very significant mineral for ear health, Meniere’s and tinnitus. Click here to read about the importance of Magnesium for Meniere’s.

Medical News Today reported in 2014 that a study showed:

“48 percent of SSNHL patients achieved recovery after receiving intravenous magnesium in combination with carbogen inhalation (a mixture of carbon dioxide and oxygen gas). Another 27 percent experienced significant improvement.”

It has to be noted in this study it was stated that the effectiveness of the treatment was reduced in patients who had vertigo. The article linked to above explains why magnesium can be so important for Meniere’s none the less.

Folate

Folate (Vitamin B9) has been shown to lower tinnitus. Folate also lowers your homocysteine, and having a high blood level of homocysteine has been linked to ‘age-related’ hearing loss.

Dr Mercola explains,

“There is good reason to consider getting your folate from food rather than folic acid supplements. In order for folic acid to be of use to your body, it must first be activated into its biologically active form — L-5-MTHF. This is the form that is able to cross the blood-brain barrier.

It’s been estimated that nearly half of all adults have difficulty converting folic acid into the bioactive form because of a genetic reduction in enzyme activity. For this reason, if you take a B-vitamin supplement, make sure it contains natural folate rather than synthetic folic acid.”

Good sources of folate are: Asparagus, spinach, turnip greens, broccoli, beans and lentils.

Christopher Spankovich, who has been studying the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999–2002 mentioned above states that,

“Some work that I did (Spankovich et al., 2011) demonstrated a relationship between vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, and lycopene with better auditory function and higher cholesterol and fat with poorer auditory function. Gopinath et al. (2011b) found a significant relationship between increased odds of hearing loss with higher dietary cholesterol intake. There also is research data showing increased odds of hearing loss with higher carbohydrate and sugar intake (Gopinath et al., 2010).”

Spankovich was also quoted in 2013 in the International Journal of Audiology as stating:

“a significant relationship between dietary nutrient intake and susceptibility to acquired hearing loss is emerging.”

An Australian study published in the International Journal of Nutrition in 2010 showed that diets high in sugar and carbohydrates detrimentally impacts hearing.

Research reported in the December 2010 issue of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery indicates that deficiencies in folic acid and B12 impinge on hearing by harming the nervous and vascular systems and perhaps even damaging the coating over the cochlear nerve.

Studies have shown that resveratrol found in grapes and wine dramatically lowered the amount of COX-2 in the inner ears of rats after exposure to 24 hours of noise. COX-2 is a protein that causes inflammation and may contribute to hearing loss. This may be one reason why Meniere’s sufferers have such positive results with grape seed extract.

The American Journal of Otolaryngolgy published a study in 1993 suggesting Vitamin B12  deficiency can result in tinnitus and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).

The results of the study showed, Patients with tinnitus and NIHL exhibited vitamin B12 deficiency in 47% of cases. This was significantly more compared with NIHL and normal subjects who exhibited vitamin B12 deficiency in 27% and 19%, respectively.

The author concluded that:

“These observations suggest a relationship between vitamin B12 deficiency and dysfunction of the auditory pathway. “

In 2008, researchers at the University of Michigan reported that a study showed the use of Vitamins A,C and E improved hearing loss by 80%.

A 2010 paper from the University of Western Ontario, ‘The effects of magnesium supplementation on sensorineural hearing damage’ concluded that magnesium supplementation is generally associated with a reduction in hearing damage caused by noise exposure and/or idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss in adults.

In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2013 by doctor Yoon-Hyeong Choi and others, they reported that

“there was a lower degree of hearing loss in the American population among those who took Magnesium and Antioxidant Vitamins. Though Dr Choi studied hearing loss, his results also apply to tinnitus.”

A 1993 study reported in ‘Science’ found that vitamin A can stimulate the regeneration of mammalian auditory hair cells.

Neurotrophin-3 (NT3)

Medical News Today reported in 2014 that the protein Neurotrophin-3 (NT3) was used to restore hearing in mice.

It was explained:

“This allows researchers to activate genes in particular cells by administering a drug that prompts the cells to ‘read’ additional copies of a gene that have been inserted into them. For this study, the team used the technique to activate additional NT3 genes that had been introduced to the supporting cells of the inner ear in mice that had been partially deafened by loud noise.

The drug tamoxifen was introduced to the supporting cells in the inner ear, which prompted them to produce extra NT3 protein … The researchers found the mice that had experienced boosted NT3 production regained their hearing over a 2-week period, compared with mice that had not had additional NT3 production …

[T]hey now plan to … identify drugs that produce the same effect as the protein, offering the potential to restore hearing loss in humans. The researchers note that the gene therapy technique used in this study has the potential to work in humans, but that a drug-based method would be ‘simpler’ and a drug could be repeatedly administered for as long as it takes for hearing to be restored.”

However, a Chinese study cited in 2012 in The African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology showed that the nutrient astaxanthin raises NT3 expression meaning the need for drugs is not necessary.

The two main sources of natural astaxanthin are the microalgae that produce it, and the sea creatures that consume the algae, such as salmon, shellfish and krill.

One study shows that supplementing with 1,200 mg of NAC per day for two weeks significantly decreased noise-related hearing loss of the subjects.

Another study found that taking a NAC supplement did not completely prevent hearing loss, but it did significantly reduce it after prolonged exposure to noise.

Since NAC does not naturally occur in foods, it would appear that you have to take this  as a supplement if you want to help your hearing. But if you eat poultry or yogurt, you can get a good amount of cysteine your body can use to make NAC.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study in 2010 that suggested that increased intake of Omega-3 fatty acids could reduce age related hearing loss.

What do all these studies have in common?

Virtually all the studies above have three things in common:

  • The growing understanding of the importance of nutrition in ear health
  • How these nutrients promote blood flow
  • How antioxidants tackle the vastly under reported problem of free radicals in inflammation and therefore in disease states.

The fact that so many people regained their hearing while using the supplement regimen I used is therefore not so surprising after all. The regimen is packed with antioxidants and nutrients that promote blood flow and cardiovascular health.

Such a regimen may compensate somewhat for poor lifestyle choices and poor diets but cannot replace a healthy balanced (preferably organic whole food) diet.  The clue is in the word ‘supplementation‘. This form of nutrition is supposed to be used to ‘supplement‘ your diet, not to replace it but rather support it and work in synergy with real whole foods.

The ‘placebo’ effect, at least in my own case and many others is highly unlikely, in fact I believe impossible. Like many, back in 2002 when I first tried supplementation, I did so purely out of desperation, believing I had exhausted all other avenues for relief. I knew nothing of what I know now and frankly didn’t trust or believe in the idea at all. I was so desperate that I would have drunk kitchen bleach if there was a chance it might help.

Ultimately, as I wrote above, it wasn’t until I corrected the root cause of Meniere’s in my case that I regained my hearing. That was not the case for many others though, who regained their hearing purely through the application of nutrition.

Using high end, quality supplements is not cheap and something that usually needs to continue for sufferers to stay symptom free, at least at some level. There are those who would say that is a wise thing because it will help keep you generally healthy, disease free, and full of energy.

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have the money to even try these supplements in the first place, let alone continue with them long term. It would be very frustrating for me in years gone by when I would get mails from people such as single mothers on welfare suffering so badly with no hope at all of affording such supplements.

When I knew the regimen was helping so many others and yet far more people were either unable to afford them or just didn’t believe in them, something had to done to help these people. This was one of the many reasons 8 years ago I decided to research full time and  make it my life’s work to identify root causes and ways to deal with these causes. Helping sufferers free themselves of Meniere’s disease, regain their hearing and regain their life should not be so selective. Everyone deserves the chance and should receive all the help they can get. I believe and the evidence from readers suggests it is so, that although my research never ends, I achieved my goal somewhat when I published my second book, The Need for Balance – Dealing with the Causes of Meniere’s .

Regenerating hair cells to treat hearing loss – video

Jeffrey P. Harris, MD, PhD, FACS discusses regenerating hair cells in cases of hearing loss.

Success stories

You can read success stories elsewhere on this blog but below are a selection of email extracts from people who have overcome Meniere’s and specifically regained their hearing. You can do the same, and don’t let anyone tell you “there is nothing more to be done, learn to live with Meniere’s.”  I say, learn to live without it.

“After 3 days my attacks went from one per day to none, after 2 weeks my hearing was back and after 4 weeks my tinnitus could only be heard barely at night.”

“Approximately 8 months  I have had no symptoms  –  have hearing test results that show my hearing loss has improved “

“For the first time in years I can be in loud places, train hard, play Candy Crush and so forth, two tinnitus tones are gone and my hearing improved.”

“Thanks Mike. I’ve been symptom free for 3 years now. So far so good“

“I bought your 1st book and learned a lot from it. Symptom free for about a year and a half.“

“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.”

“My husband is now living symptom free.“

“My mother has been very lucky, her Menieres has been cured.“

“Thank you Mike. All of my symptoms have gone away.“

“The pressure did indeed back off which resulted in more low range hearing coming back.“

“I turned to locally grown herbs which are cheaper and I came across morning herb. Using it made a big improvement helping me regain my balance, a good percentage of hearing and no vertigo but slight tinnitus.”

“Duane has noticed that his hearing fluctuates (occasionally) but has improved greatly.“

“By the way, something I did not expect was the fact that I have regained some of my lost hearing. It has been four years since I was able to listen to a telephone conversation in my left ear. I had a conversation with my wife several weeks ago and at the end of the conversation I told my wife I listened to her with my left ear, she could not believe it. I am scheduled for another hearing test and I am excited about the upcoming results. I was not a candidate in the past for a hearing aid, I hope I don’t even need one now.”
 
“Within one week i had a massive remission of the deafness in my right ear”

All emails used with permission.

So, is preventing deafness and restoring hearing in Meniere’s disease possible?

From the experiences of many Meniere’s Help readers and my own personal experience, I have to say yes it is possible, but it is obviously dependent on many factors and each individual case is different.

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

Related articles:

Mike’s Meniere’s Story
Overcoming Meniere’s Disease
Dealing with Tinnitus

By Mike Spencer

Founder of Menieres-Help.Com

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. Do you have experience of your hearing returning? email Mike at meniereshelp@gmail.com or tell us all about it in the comments boxes below.

References/Further reading:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16374064/

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