Both my mother and father come from big families. I have lots of cousins, so many of them that I don’t really even know them and I don’t know much about their health. On my mother’s side diabetes seems to be prevalent so I always am concerned about my sugar level whereas on my father’s side heart problems had plagued many if not most of his brothers so I am keenly aware of my cholesterol and blood pressure level. But as far as Meniere’s disease I really hadn’t heard about anyone on either side of the family having any problems with that or any kind of balance disorder, until the other day.
I received an email a little while back from the daughter of one my cousins. I really didn’t know much more than her name because she had moved away when I was young. But it appears that my cousin has suffered from Meniere’s disease for many years. Although I had read once before that Meniere’s disease sometimes runs in the family I didn’t think that it happened that much. I was quite surprised. I now wonder if anyone else on my father’s side also had this.
According to Dr. Hain’s website “About one in three patients with Meniere’s disease have a first-degree relative with Meniere’s disease. In theory, hereditary predisposition might be related to differences in anatomy of fluid channels within the ear or differences in immune response.”
I can’t remember exactly but I think there have been comments that back up the contention that Meniere’s does run the family.
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Wednesday, February 9, 2011
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7 comments:
Hi David,
Interesting post as I have thought about this as well. My mother had Meniere's but I'm told that I don't by the two ENT doctors I have seen. The second doctor can only tell me I have balance issues, doesn't know the cause and that I am to find "a quality of life".
I asked and was told it's not genetic but I'm not so sure, especially with a close relative having ear-related balance issues. Unfortunately, my mother who was 40 years older than me, came from a small family and from a generation where you didn't talk about such things. Just pull yourself up by the bootstraps mentality. So, I don't know if there are others like us, but I do believe that the answer will be found.
Maureen
David, I believe there might be a connection. My mother lost the hearing in her left ear at a young age, and she has rather serious problems with her balance. Although she has never had an attack of vertigo in the classic Meniere's style, I really wonder if there's a link. It seems too much of a coincidence, doesn't it?
I don't know anything much about my mother's side of the family. She was adopted, she ended up knowing her mother and that side of the family, but never knew who her father was. My father comes from a huge family, and I don't know much about anyone really.
However, I found out recently while talking with an aunt that my grandmother had "bouts of vertigo". I have no idea if she had Meniere's, but I found it interesting that she would have severe vertigo attacks, the way my aunt described it, they sounded like my vertigo attacks. She did have hearing problems, but she was in her 90's when she died, who knows what may have caused the hearing problems. That's all I know.
As Peggy said, it just seems like such a coincidence.
Hi David,
My mother was diagnosed with Meniere's a few years ago and has been in remission since. Both my younger brother and I struggled with fluid retention in our ears as children. He had tubes in his ears at a young age and I've had them at least three times as a child and now as an adult. I believe there is a connection caused by the inheritance of how the shape of my anatomy is. I have dysfunctional eustachian tubes in both ears (since birth), and collapsed and narrow pathways that lead to my nose, causing a lack of ventilation and a "suction" of negative air pressure in each ear. I'm also blessed (sarcasm) with enlarged adenoids that drip fluid, probably causing issues for me all of my life. Of course all of these symptoms are outside of Meniere's, however, one can only conclude that each small issue contributes to the likelihood that I were to develop this disease.
Hearing loss runs in my family on my mother's side but as of yet no one else has had M.D. (lucky me) .
My doc (not my ENT just general health) told me that MD runs in the family but it skips a generation as in 1 of my grandmother's should have it & my grand kids will have it.
So far he's been proven wrong since none of my grans had it so hopefully he'll be proven further wrong & my daughters future kids won't have it.
I'm 29 and my ENT just diagnosed me with Meneire's last year. When I informed my family I was having trouble with my ears, my mother and my aunt informed me that my maternal grandmother had always had trouble with her ears and that she had surgery on her inner ear at one point. And I also remember my Grammy complaining about her ears bothering her and that they felt like they had too much wax in them.
After I was diagnosed, I started telling my dad about the disorder and he informed me that his mother had also had trouble and had also had some type of surgery on her ear or ears.
So I may of had it coming from both sides; there might be some truth to what Mrs Tater's doctor informed her of with it skipping a generation. I guess maybe if a grandparent has it there is a good chance that a grandchild might develop it? My parents have not had any ear issues. My sister had a lot of trouble when we were younger with ear infections but now that she's older she hasn't been having trouble. I have not heard that any of my cousins have trouble.
thanks for the comments everybody! It certainly looks as though there is something about meniere's running in the family
David
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