**Ménière's Disease: Epidemiology**

Liane Sousa Teixeira and Aliciane Mota Guimarães Cavalcante

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.69666

#### **Abstract**

Meniere's disease is a disorder of the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear manifesting as vertigo, tinnitus, sensory neural hearing loss and aural fullness of known or unknown origin. The aim of this chapter is to estimate the prevalence of Ménière's disease (MD) and its relationship with demographic factors, symptoms and conditions that are known. Few articles have been published on the epidemiology of Meniere's disease from 1975 to 1990, studies from Japan indicated a fairly constant prevalence of 17 cases per 100,000 population. These studies were undertaken by a Research Committee on Meniere's Disease. Kotimaki and colleagues analysed the Finnish population of five million people between 1992 and 1996. A prevalence of 43/100,000 and an average yearly incidence of 4.3/100,000 popula‐ tion were found by the authors. MD is 1–3 times higher in women than in men and also observed a higher prevalence in adulthood and white people. MD seems to be much more common in white adults with higher body mass index categories, in their fourth and fifth decade. However, in recent years, especially in the last decades, there have been several safe and effective medical and surgical therapies for the treatment of the disease and its sequels.

**Keywords:** epidemiology, prevalence, Ménière, incidence, hearing loss

## **1. Introduction**

Symptom and disease definitions are a fundamental prerequisite for professional commu‐ nication in clinical, research and public health settings. The need for structured criteria for epidemiologic, diagnostic and therapeutic research is more obvious for disciplines that rely heavily on syndromic diagnosis [1].

Accurate information about the occurrence and impact of balance disorders is also important for planning health services that meet the needs of the community they serve. It is essential to have a good understanding of the epidemiology of the conditions and their symptomatic

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presentation in the community. Much literature in this area is based around specialist clinic and hospital experience that is likely to be subject to bias [2].

The challenge in diagnosing Meniere's disease continues, because usually in the early stages, only a few symptoms are present. Consequently, there is a difficulty in measuring the inci‐ dence and prevalence of the disease in any population. In the emergency department, it is common to see patients with Ménière's disease (MD) discharged with inaccurate labyrinthitis dignitaries after sudden onset of vertigo [3].

Ménière's disease is characterised by recurrent attacks of vertigo associated with fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus and a sense of aural fullness. In 1861, Prosper Ménière correctly attributed the attacks to a disorder of the inner ear, suggesting that the mechanism of causation could be similar to migraine or inner ear vasospasm, a differential diagnosis which is still relevant for the disease today [4].
