Time, Surgery Help Ménière’s Disease

Ménière’s disease tends to improve over time, and surgery also can help, two new studies have found. This disease causes vertigo, a feeling that you are spinning. It also can cause dizziness, hearing loss and ringing in the ears. But a new study of 510 patients found that symptoms mostly decreased over time. In a second study, 51 people had surgery to insert a tube called a shunt in the ear. The purpose was to drain fluid. About 3 out of 4 people had fewer symptoms after the surgery. In some, symptoms returned. So 16 people had repeat surgery. About 2 out of 3 got better after the second surgery. The studies appeared November 18 in the journal Archives of Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery.