• Thanks to a tip from a reader, added the following information to the Disability Page:

  • U.S. Government Disability Website

    • The U.S. government has a website for disability information at disabilityinfo.gov.

  • Home Ownership Programs for Persons With Disabilities

    • For many disabled persons, home ownership may be a stretch, but there are some resources available, and it is always good to know one's options.

      • MortgageLoan.com page on disability mortgages and loans (commercial site).  Scroll to the bottom of the page for links to assistance programs.

• Added to the Famous Patients Page:
  • Shawnae Jebbia, television and film personality, and Miss USA 1998.
    • Her page on Wikipedia.
    • Video interview via YouTube with Dr. Manny Alvarez on Fox News Channel.

• Revised on the Disability Page:

  • Two problems with obtaining veteran's benefits due to a diagnosis of "Meniere's Disease" can be causation and timing.  "Meniere's Disease" caused by military service is probably better diagnosed as a different form of endolymphatic hydrops.

    • Remember that Meniere's Disease is considered by most authorities to be "idiopathic endolymphatic hydrops," with "idiopathic" meaning "cause unknown." With the cause unknown, it is difficult to establish the time period during which Meniere's Disease began.  If the cause and therefore the timing is unknown, it is hard to say that it was caused by line-of-duty military service.

    • If one has endolymphatic hydrops caused by line-of-duty military service, then most authorities would say that one does not have "idiopathic" endolymphatic hydrops (Meniere's Disease), because the cause is known.  In that case, one might have "secondary endolymphatic hydrops" ("secondary" being secondary to the known cause of line-of-duty military service) or "delayed endolymphatic hydrops," where symptoms manifest subsequent to, rather than coincident with line-of-duty military service.  See more information on this subject on our Cause Page.

  • Tip to Service Members:  Be sure that symptoms of endolymphatic hydrops (whether Meniere's Disease or any other form) and anything else are documented in your medical records, ESPECIALLY in your separation physical.

• Added to the Treatment Page:
  • Triggers are highly individualized. One might have a trigger that no one else has, and one might not have a trigger that many other patients have. Statistics aren't useful here. It's not a matter of "how likely" it is for one to have a particular trigger. Either one has the trigger or one doesn't.
• Added to the Famous Patients Page:
  • Kristen Chenoweth, singer, actress.
    • Chenoweth writes of her Meniere's Disease in her memoir,  A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages, as reviewed in Publishers Weekly (scross down).

• Patty Haybach, R.N., M.S., and author of "Meniere's Disease:  What You Need to Know" and "Inner Ear Balance and Dizziness Disorders," has moved her website to this location, and we have updated our links.

• Updated our Famous Patients page:
  • Television journalist Meg MacDonald renovates her home to accommodate her Meniere's Disease.
    • Update:  Article, Wilmington (Del.) News-Journal, March 15, 2009.

• Updated our excerpts related to Meniere's Disease disability from the official U.S. Social Security Administration manual "Disability Evaluation Under Social Security" (known as the "Blue Book") to the September 2008 edition.
  • Here.

• Added to the Famous Patients Page:
  • Ryan Adams, musician, singer, songwriter, author.
    • Article in Wikipedia.
    • Article on Gibson.com.
    • Article on RollingStone.com.

Jan-01-2009

• We wish you a happy, healthy new year.