Did you know that one of the most common causes of vertigo is Meniere’s disease?
It is, but scientists have been frustrated for years about having no idea why.
There is some good news: recent studies published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences have found the cause.
Not only this, they’ve even named an everyday food that treats it!
Previous studies found that Meniere’s disease is caused by neurotoxic damage to the hearing and the balance organs in our ears. These studies also linked this damage to oxidation.
The most common symptoms of Meniere’s disease are vertigo, hearing loss, and tinnitus. There is currently no treatment for this disease.
Researchers wanted to test levels of oxidation and inflammation in people with Meniere’s disease. They also wanted to test a mushroom called Coriolus versicolor to see whether it could reduce such oxidative and inflammatory processes, as previous studies had suggested.
They used 40 volunteers less than 50 years old who had been diagnosed with Meniere’s disease and had experienced at least two spontaneous episodes of vertigo that lasted for at least 20 minutes, unexplained hearing loss on at least one occasion, tinnitus, and a feeling of fullness in the ears.
They gave 22 of the volunteers mushroom extracts for two months. The rest did not get any treatment over the same period.
Urine and blood samples were taken from the volunteers at the beginning and end of the study to test for oxidative and inflammatory compounds.
At the beginning of the study, the researchers found substantially higher levels of inflammation and oxidation than they would have expected in healthy participants.
By the end of the study, they discovered that those on the mushroom treatment had reduced levels of these compounds in their blood and urine. They also had improved hearing and less tinnitus.
However, vertigo did not differ much between the two groups, which researchers could not quite explain.
They concluded that vertigo symptoms are possibly harder to treat. It may take more than two months to cure, and a higher dose of the mushroom supplement may be needed. If so, it is a good idea to supplement treatment with vestibular rehabilitation, which helps retrain the brain.