The Difference Between Meniere’s Disease and Meniere’s Syndrome
Learning More About Meniere’s Disease
Meniere’s disease refers to an endolymphatic hydrops or an inner ear problem that can impact one’s hearing and trigger vertigo. Named after the French physician Prosper Meniere (who was the first one to put forth the notion that vertigo is caused by ear problems), this illness is something that can be relative. Meaning, the severity of the disease varies a lot from person to person. Often times, though, the range of the disease is between the mildly irritating to the seriously debilitating.
Symptoms
Symptoms cover the following: rotary dizziness or vertigo – one that continues for quite a period of time and crops up every now and then, hearing loss – which can either happen in only one ear (unilateral) or in both ears (bilateral) and can also be either fluctuating or continuous, and tinnitus – the presence of sound in the air without an external source. Again, the symptoms of Meniere’s disease may differ according to every person, but nevertheless, their presence means that a trip to the otolaryngologist.
Treatment
Treatment for the disease primarily focuses on addressing the severity of the symptoms. However, when even that fails, permanent surgery is considered. That does not mean a lot of better things, though. The impossibility of hearing loss is never guaranteed when surgery is performed.
Prevention
However, prevention of the disease may be possible. To lessen your chances of acquiring the disease, a more careful attention to diet is recommended. A low-sodium diet is deemed the most effective in the prevention of the disease. Also, the consumption of substances like alcohol, caffeine and and tobacco is discouraged. To lessen the severity of the symptoms, drugs that target the pressure of the inner ear like steroids, diuretics and antihistamines are used.
Understanding How Meniere’s Syndrome Differs
Meniere’s syndrome, on the other hand, is basically the disease, with a slight difference. It also points to the development of endolymphatic hydrops. And, the same symptoms that present themselves to a person in the case of Meniere’s disease also manifest in a Meniere’s syndrome. In addition to that, the same preventive measures are undertaken in Meniere’s syndrome. The two seem too similar that a lot of people even interchange them. But, Meniere’s disease is actually not Meniere’s syndrome.
An inner ear problem that manifests itself in a vertigo, a tinnitus or in other inner ear issues relies a lot on whether the cause of the vertigo depends on a source that can be pinpointed. That means a lot, especially when one has to differentiate between the Meniere’s disease from the Meniere’s syndrome. And, the difference between Meniere’s disease from Meniere’s syndrome actually lies on the source of the vertigo associated with the disease. Meniere’s disease is idiopathic, while Meniere’s syndrome is not. In other words, the vertigo that comes from the former, is unknown while the vertigo that results from the Meniere’s syndrome, though, can be explained. And, more often than not, it is due to inner ear inflammation caused by syphilis, or a thyroid hormone disease.
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