Stick to what you know
Getting expert advice is always a good idea, says Pat Henry
be misinterpreted as a sign of inebriation.
By her early to mid-30s, Rita was experiencing significant fluctuations in her hearing and had tinnitus. The vertigo attacks continued but were a little less severe, now lasting up to 11 hours instead of 24.
After about 15 years, when she was in her late 40s, the symptoms changed again — the vertigo attacks retreated, but her hearing loss increased significantly and she experienced hyperacusis or an extremely acute form of distorted hearing.
“The hearing loss was so severe that it caused distortion of sound and could be very uncomfortable — for example someone putting a spoon on a saucer would be too loud,” says Rita, who in 2012 started the Dublin Meniere’s Support Group. The organisation now has about 60 members ranging from people in their 30s to their 70s, and is officially a group within the UK society.
After studying counselling, Rita had worked for many years as a facilitator for people with mental health issues with Grow Ireland, but by the time she reached her 50s, she found it increasingly difficult to carry on.
“I enjoyed my work and managed the big attacks although it wasn’t easy,” she says, recalling that as her hearing deteriorated, she started to get severe headaches.
“There was a lack of coordination, and I started dropping things,” she says, adding that she still had an occasional attack of dizziness and nausea.
By her late 50s, the mother of three adult children was also Meniere’s disease is a disease
of the inner ear, which is characterised by attacks of dizziness, nausea, vomiting, deafness and a buzzing in the
ears (tinnitus). The disease got its name from a French doctor called Prosper Meniere, who first described the condition. The incidence is 1 in 500 according to American research,
but other sources point to between 1:1000 and 1:2000 of the population.Both sexes are equally affected and it can occur at any age. About 7-10pc of sufferers
have a family history of the disease.The cause of is unknown. Treatment of Meniere’s disease is aimed at reducing and controlling
symptoms. experiencing significant fatigue and eventually had to give up work completely.
Now Rita wears a panic button around the house, and when she goes out, brings a special card explaining her condition, as well as an explanatory letter from her GP.
Aside from its extremely distressing symptoms, the disease can have a very serious psychological effect on patients, she says.
“Some people become very ill with anxiety and depression because of the impact the disease has on their daily lives — they cannot go out because they are afraid that if they have an attack people will leave them lying on the ground believing they are drunk.
“You can’t ring for help because everything is spinning and you are sick,” says Rita.
Management of Meniere’s disease, says Dr Khoo, is primarily aimed at controlling the debilitating symptoms of vertigo and includes medication to treat dizziness and sickness. Surgical interventions, including the injection of steroids into the inner ear — generally about five injections over five weeks — to reduce inflammatory reaction in the inner ear can often be successful for some patients, he says.
Injecting an antibiotic called gentamicin into the inner ear can also help to eliminate the malfunctioning balance receptions of the inner ear, he explains, adding that, in the past, the removal of the entire inner-ear balance organ was recommended.
However, says Dr Khoo, this is now generally carried out as a last resort as it is recognised that there is a 40pc chance of the disease moving to the patient’s other ear. ÷ The Meniere’s Dublin Support Group meets at 2.30pm on the first Monday of every month at the Deafhear Dublin South Resource Centre close to Tallaght Hospital. For more info mail menieresdublin@ gmail.com or call 087 1399946 Visit menieres.org.uk Fitness instructors should avoid giving advice on supplements unless they have a dietitian qualification. It happens nearly every day where clients say they were advised to take a whole range of pills. In one recent case in the US a gymgoer died from the toxic effects of overdosing and an allergic reaction to taking 50 liver tablets daily, as instructed by their gym instructor. The instructor and the gym were both sued. So my advice to all fitness instructors is to concentrate on being the best you can be, give great workouts, but don’t give advice on supplements. Instead direct them to their nearest registered dietitian. There was a time when parents found Playboy under their son’s bed, now it’s more likely to be boxes of white powder, probably protein powder or creatine. Young boys are trying to bulk up by consuming large portions of these powders. Parents are very concerned and don’t really know if they are safe. I recently gave a lecture in one of our top rugby schools, where 70 of the boys admitted to taking protein powders and creatine. The reality is that they assume there will be no long-term harm. In the short term, constipation may result as young bodies cannot absorb too much protein. If the package says take two scoops, most consume six, and it’s simply wasted. I would advise people never to buy large bags of protein on the internet. You don’t know what it contains. Buy from your regular health store and don’t overload. Eat real food in small portions over six meals a day and train hard. It is simple, but a good firm handshake goes well beyond ‘being strong’. In recent studies carried out by the Lancet, over a period of four years with over 14,000 participants, they found that for every 5kg decrease in grip strength, it was linked to higher levels of serious illness including heart attack and strokes. The conclusion was that grip strength is a good indicator of your body’s ageing rate. The stronger your grip the more biologically younger your body appears to be. So go to your local gym and test your grip on a dynamometer which shows how your closing grip is. A good grip in sports is essential, so invest in a simple spring-loaded gripper. Practice every day for five minutes, increasing intensity to close gripper hold for five seconds. Release and repeat.