Quality of Life in Meniere's Disease

Quality of life can be significantly impacted by various symptoms of Meniere's disease, especially vertigo, dizziness, and imbalance. The fluctuating nature of the condition as well as the lack of predictability regarding the symptoms and their severity causes a great deal of uncertainty and insecurity regarding many activities of daily living such as driving, productivity in the workplace, studying, and leisure activities. These difficulties can lead to psychological consequences (such as depression, anxiety, fear of going outside, fear of falling) as well as to physical consequences (such as change in posture, falling). The elderly are particularly vulnerable to vestibular problems since they may have other medical conditions that already predispose them to imbalance or unsteadiness.

The quality of life of patients can improve significantly when successful control of vertigo is achieved. However, depending on which treatment is chosen, there may be residual difficulties with hearing loss and imbalance. Vestibular rehabilitation can alleviate some of the problems with unsteadiness. It is very important for patients whose vertigo does not respond to medical treatment to discuss in-depth the advantages and disadvantages of each remaining treatment option, whether conservative or ablative, considering the existing degree of hearing loss, severity of vertigo, and existence of vestibular difficulties.

The patient should also discuss with the health care provider the option of investigating existing allergies and treating them as there is evidence in the medical literature that some people with Meniere's benefited from immunotherapy for allergies as well as diet modifications.

To see more about this relationship, please click on the following link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=PubMed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=10652386&ordinalpos=31&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.PubmedResultsPanel.PubmedRVDocSum