Dr Devan from AJ Medical College to Treat a Patient in Switzerland Suffering from Meniere’s Disease
Mangaluru: Dr Devan. P. P., ENT Consultant, Professor and Head of the ENT Dept of AJ Medical College and Research Centre, Mangaluru has been invited to go to Zurich, Switzerland to see a patient suffering from Meniere’s disease.
To date, six patients who have come to Dr Devan’s clinic, suffering from Meniere’s disease have been fully cured. As of now, there is no cure for meniere’s. This is the third time Dr Devan had been invited internationally to see patients.
Dr Devan is the recipient of two Gold Medals for outstanding research in South India ENT conference and his chapters in the internationally acclaimed American board certified textbook, eMedicine is read nearly a thousand times a month, by American doctors.
About Ménière’s Disease:
Ménière’s disease is a disorder of the inner ear that causes severe dizziness (vertigo), ringing in the ears (tinnitus), hearing loss, and a feeling of fullness or congestion in the ear. Ménière’s disease usually affects only one ear. Attacks of dizziness may come on suddenly or after a short period of tinnitus or muffled hearing. Some people will have single attacks of dizziness separated by long periods of time. Others may experience many attacks closer together over a number of days. Some people with Ménière’s disease have vertigo so extreme that they lose their balance and fall. These episodes are called “drop attacks.”
Ménière’s disease can develop at any age, but it is more likely to happen to adults between 40 and 60 years of age. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) estimates that approximately 615,000 individuals in the United States are currently diagnosed with Ménière’s disease and that 45,500 cases are newly diagnosed each year.
What causes the symptoms of Ménière’s disease? The labyrinth in relation to the ear. The labyrinth is composed of the semicircular canals, the otolithic organs (i.e., utricle and saccule), and the cochlea. Inside their walls (bony labyrinth) are thin, pliable tubes and sacs (membranous labyrinth) filled with endolymph. The symptoms of Ménière’s disease are caused by the buildup of fluid in the compartments of the inner ear, called the labyrinth. The labyrinth contains the organs of balance (the semicircular canals and otolithic organs) and of hearing (the cochlea).
It has two sections: the bony labyrinth and the membranous labyrinth. The membranous labyrinth is filled with a fluid called endolymph that, in the balance organs, stimulates receptors as the body moves. The receptors then send signals to the brain about the body’s position and movement. In the cochlea, fluid is compressed in response to sound vibrations, which stimulates sensory cells that send signals to the brain. In Ménière’s disease, the endolymph buildup in the labyrinth interferes with the normal balance and hearing signals between the inner ear and the brain. This abnormality causes vertigo and other symptoms of Ménière’s disease.
Why do people get Ménière’s disease? Many theories exist about what happens to cause Ménière’s disease, but no definite answers are available. Some researchers think that Ménière’s disease is the result of constrictions in blood vessels similar to those that cause migraine headaches. Others think Ménière’s disease could be a consequence of viral infections, allergies, or autoimmune reactions. Because Ménière’s disease appears to run in families, it could also be the result of genetic variations that cause abnormalities in the volume or regulation of endolymph fluid.
