Type of person who has Meniere's?

To get the answer to this question, you guys need to read about the epidemiology of MM. There are many good papers around on this. Medscape has an article here but unfortunately there's the hassle of needing a log in. Easy to do though and you can see some stats about who gets it, incidence etc. From what I can see there are no "types" per se but there are associations:

• Patients who are at greater risk include those with a recent viral illness or respiratory infection, those with a history of allergies, smoking, stress, fatigue, or alcohol use, and patients taking aspirin. There does not appear to be a gender preference.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/509085_2

 

i have allergies
never smoked cigarettes - tried weed once
fatigue - yes
very limited alcohol use since 1984
little aspirin use

but i had unknowingly injested poison while in another country and I wonder - well I know that broke down my immune system

 

I have everything but the alcohol and aspirin

 

All I know is I am a nut job and more insane than the lot of all of yins!!

 

'taint neither

 

Not even close

 

Hardly a scientific study, but my ENT who has been in practice 35 years and sees more MM patients than any of the other 6-7 ENTs in our catchment area (about 150,000 people served), says his observation is that it occurs much more frequently among white collar workers and people who don't do strenuous manual labor for a living. How this correlates with the other variables mentioned would be interesting to explore. My guess is that we would be hard pressed to really answer the question initially posed, although it is a good question.

Like Studio said, one would turn to the epidemiological data to look for an answer, but all the times I read about that, I recall things simliar to what studio said:

"Patients who are at greater risk include those with a recent viral illness or respiratory infection, those with a history of allergies, smoking, stress, fatigue, or alcohol use, and patients taking aspirin. There does not appear to be a gender preference."

The data I read (which included only a little more than the quote from studio) doesn't really tell us too much about the type of person who gets it, but rather certain events that predispose one (make one a little more statistically likely) to get MM.

There is, I believe, much merit to the notion that stress and how one handles it causes physiological changes that make one more prone to get just about any malady.

 

I read that people who were watch makers and accountants and who work in fields where detail is important are more apt to have this disease. I forgot where I found this information.

Some people who probably had it are Jonathan Swift, Emily Dickinson, Alan Shepherd, Bess Truman, Vincent Van Gogh, Marilyn Monroe and many others.

Speaking for myself - I am easy going, sort of have a bend to perfectionism in some things and finally have learned to "let go" in other areas. Work - I was a medical technician, then OR Tech and detail oriented. In my final years before retirement worked in accounting area with deadlines, exactness in figures and stress to go along with it. ???

I think I am patient, and feel that there isn't anything I can't learn, if trained properly. I learn better by seeing how to do things rather than reading about how to do things. Monkey see, monkey do! ;D ;D

I have a good sense of humor and enjoy a little dark humor when it fits. This is sometimes off putting to people who don't know me well. : ???

 

I count 0's and 1's all day long.

 

I want your job--I have to try to "fix" people all day long--I would prefer the numbers, or a broom

 

good luck with that - what kind of tools do you use?

long ago, in a previous life, I was an auto mechanic. My favorite tool was a 2 lb ball peen hammer.

 

Jim, fix people how?

 

tools?? applied behavioral analysis, cognitive behavior therapy, behavior modification, Rogerian non directive counseling, positive behavior support, logotherapy and paradoxical intention, Glasserian reality therapy and choice theory, etc

most days I think the hammer would be more effective (or at least more fun to use)

acujen--I am a behavior specialist for a school district--I basically get the most difficult kids to "fix"--I have 9 schools (all the secondary schools in the city) and I only work half time--fun, but I likely deserve it--I am a frustrated wannabe MD--I chose education because I could be in the top 1% there, but if I went to med school, I would have probably graduated in the bottom third of my class--so I would like to "fix" people by cutting out tumors or giving meds, but my job is infinitely less satisfying because few ever really get fixed--my guess is it is about like being an MD who only gets to work with severe intractable cases of MM--aren't you sorry you asked?!

 

Actually, Jim, no I'm not sorry I asked. I find your answer quite fascinating.

 

"Patients who are at greater risk include those with a recent viral illness or respiratory infection, those with a history of allergies, smoking, stress, fatigue, or alcohol use, and patients taking aspirin. There does not appear to be a gender preference."

The data I read (which included only a little more than the quote from studio) doesn't really tell us too much about the type of person who gets it, but rather certain events that predispose one (make one a little more statistically likely) to get MM.

There is, I believe, much merit to the notion that stress and how one handles it causes physiological changes that make one more prone to get just about any malady.
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I'm a person that doesn't appear to handle stress well . . . hence my MM acts up.
Currently, I'm very involved with a Hearing Health Fair that our group is putting on next week . . . and the Meniere's monster has really been acting up. My husband says he can hear me 'going up' when I'm talking on the phone regarding the fair. I must try and curb my enthusiasm as I end up feeling unwell when I get off the phone. . . which is easier said than done. :-\

Jacquie

 

Very good question and I have often wondered this myself. I am a high strung person, always have been. I over think, over worry and now are having significant problems with anxiety and TMJ. I also suffer from migraine headaches. My neck muscles are constantly stiff and sore, I believe from never being able to fully relax. I am always in a tense anxious state, although this state of being has been made significantly worse since my MM symptoms flared a few years ago. It is coincidental that my first vertigo attacked happened while I was going through a stressful period of my life. I wonder sometimes whether what I'm feeling are MM symptoms or anxiety . . . it's a bit of "the chicken or the egg" - which came first?

 

Trina, I wonder that myself. Sometimes I feel very dizzy at work and think for sure I'm going to have an attack, but as soon as I get in my car and head for home I start to feel a little better. So, is it the anxiety of having MM at work that makes me dizzy or is it really the MM? Quite a conundrum.

 

I did read that somewhere that people with Meniere's tended to be type A personalities. I'm definitely not a type A personality.

Jim
I'm a teacher and I need you to "fix" a student at my school. Only kidding. That's a tough job. I applaud you.

 

I'm pretty laid back. I've raised 5 kids so it takes A LOT to bug me. I'm not sure if personality type makes a difference, but it does seem to me that anyone who can't handle stress will probably have a harder time with MM. I think the mental battle is a huge part of it. It can be a vicious cycle, as we all know. Symptoms hit, stress increases, symptoms become more severe, stress becomes more acute........I truly believe that we could all benefit from being able to do some instant meditative kinds of things when it hits. Somehow I have learned to totally relax when the vertigo starts, it doesn't always make it go away, but it does seem to help - sometimes. Having said that, I have very little vestibular function left and the vertigo episodes are not nearly as severe as they used to be. They're much easier to handle on all levels. Not sure if I could pull off the relaxation thing back when they were truly bad.

I'm a pretty firm believer in the viral connection. I wonder how many of us can account for something compromising our immune system at about the same time the symptoms started. I personally have 3 possible explanations. A huge amount of stress due to a long term relationship falling apart. Getting really sick in Morocco (that kefta was soooo good, though). Getting whanged real hard on the head on a rock climb. All of these happened at about the same time.

Bob

 

Charles, just a thought . . . wonder if it could have been the cummulative stress of your job, then as a caregiver for your wife?? Obviously, your stress has lessened since you've retired and your wife has gone into a nursing home.

I wonder if some of us aren't able to handle certain types of "stress" and "it" attacks the weakest part of the body . . . for us it is Meniere's.

Jacquie