MenieresInfo.com Blog

A reader asks:

I am researching my family’s medical history, and I have found that there is an extremely heavy incidence of Meniere’s Disease, or at least symptoms of Meniere’s Disease, in the Scot line of my paternal grandmother.  It looks like nearly 50% of her descendents had it, but the incidence does not run in a direct line.  I believe my father had it, although it was not diagnosed.  My brother did not have it, but two of his three children do.  Is there a research group that is researching genetic connections pertaining to Meniere’s Disease?

The research to date shows that Meniere’s Disease is not hereditary, but that the incidence is higher in some families, for reasons not understood.  Thus, Meniere’s Disease is said to be “familial.”

We don’t know one way or the other whether there is any current research into possible genetic connections to Meniere’s Disease.  As far as we know, there is no repository of current research (other than clinical trials — click here and here).  The world’s largest repository of medical research, PubMed, is pretty much limited to completed studies that have been published.

Click here to search PubMed for articles on the hereditary or familial aspects of Meniere’s Disease.

Perhaps an astute reader can enlighten us further.

Update: See this subsequent post.

A reader asks:

Should patients with Meniere’s Disease avoid pregnancy?

This is absolutely, positively, a subject to discuss with one’s doctors and a subject not to be influenced by what one may see on the Internet.

That said, here are a few thoughts that you may want to use as talking points with your doctors.

Search PubMed here.

We do not know of any risk posed by Meniere’s Disease to the fetus — but we don’t know everything. Be sure to talk to your doctors.

Meniere’s Disease is not hereditary. However, it does occur with increased frequency in *some* families (no one knows why). Thus, Meniere’s Disease is said to be “familial.” See our previous post here.

Anecdotally, some patients have reported that their symptoms worsened during pregnancy. Other patients have reported that their symptoms lessened or abated during pregnancy.

Some drugs prescribed to Meniere’s Disease patients to treat the symptom of vertigo are known to pose risks to a fetus. Other drugs have been studied and are not known to pose risks to a fetus (but there are no guarantees). See Dr. Timothy Hain’s information here.

We have never heard a patient say that she regretted having become pregnant because of Meniere’s Disease. But we haven’t heard everything.

Remember, this subject is best discussed with your doctors. A significant factor will be the extent to which Meniere’s Disease affects you and the extent to which you are willing to forego during pregnancy any treatment that might place the fetus at risk. In other words, a long, hard haul may (or may not) be even harder.

We wish you our best.

Updated January 9, 2006.
Originally posted December 17, 2005.

There is yet another mimic of Meniere’s Disease: a true hereditary condition called DFNA9 disorder (or DFNA9 deafness disorder), a gene disorder. It came to our attention today because we received notice that the article entitled “From gene to disease; a progressive cochlear-vestibular dysfunction with onset in middle-age (DFNA9)“ was added to PubMed. The onset of symptoms occurs typically in middle age, and “[i]n about one in three patients severe vestibular symptoms similar to those in Meniere’s disease are present as a result of a progressive impairment of the vestibular system.” For more information on mimics of Meniere’s Disease, visit the Mimics section of the MenieresInfo.com Diagnosis Page. A “mimic” of Meniere’s Disease is a disorder with symptoms similar to Meniere’s Disease. Misdiagnosis among mimics occurs with unknown frequency.

A search at PubMed turns up 11 articles containing the terms DFNA9 and Meniere or Meniere’s.

A study, “Hereditary otovestibular dysfunction and Meniere’s disease in a large Belgian family is caused by a missense mutation in the COCH gene [that is responsible for DFNA9],” of 60 members of a large family with a mutated DFNA9 gene found that nine of them met criteria for “definite” Meniere’s Disease, 13 met criteria for “probable” Meniere’s Disease, and 17 met criteria for “possible” Meniere’s Disease.

This, of course, leads us to wonder whether some patients diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease are actually misdiagnosed and that the true diagnosis is DFNA9 disorder. If so, this may explain why “Meniere’s Disease” has a higher frequency in some families but not others.

Added January 9, 2006:

We quote from this abstract at PubMed:

One [carrier of the DFNA9 trait] developed recurrent episodes of vertigo accompanied by nausea and vomiting, resembling Meniere’s disease. . . . [DFNA9] should be considered as a possible cause in patients developing combined progressive cochlear and vestibular impairment, or suspected hereditary Meniere-like disease, from around middle age.

We quote from this abstract at PubMed:

The COCH gene [that is responsible for DFNA9] may be one of the genetic factors contributing to Meniere’s disease and the possibility of a COCH mutation should be considered in patients with Meniere’s disease symptoms.

We quote from this abstract at PubMed:

In about one in three [DFNA9] patients severe vestibular symptoms similar to those in Meniere’s disease are present as a result of a progressive impairment of the vestibular system.

Update, December 17, 2005: See this post.

A reader asks:

Is Meniere’s Disease hereditary?

Meniere’s Disease occurs more frequently (but does not “run”) in some, but not all families. Thus, it is not hereditary. There is no known reason why Meniere’s Disease occurs more frequently in some families.

Click here for a link at the MDIC to research at PubMed. Click here to visit the MDIC Cause Page for more information about the cause of Meniere’s Disease.