OUR resident specialist and NHS GP, Dr Zoe Williams, shares her expert advice.
Today, Dr Zoe helps a reader whose sister has been suffering from dizzy turns.
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Q) MY 85-year-old sister has recently been suffering from dizzy turns.
She had hearing aids fitted but noticed a clangy noise from them.
She went back to the specialist for a correction but to no avail, and so her doctor mentioned vertigo.
Our late dad had Meniere’s disease and I was wondering if this is hereditary?
When an attack came on he acted like someone who was drunk but he was teetotal.
A) Meniere’s disease typically causes attacks of dizziness with a spinning sensation, hearing loss and noises in the ear – also known as tinnitus.
The attacks can vary in severity, lasting anything from minutes up to 24 hours. Most people with the condition report feeling wiped out and exhausted after an attack.
Unfortunately, there is no cure but treatment includes medication, hearing aids, therapies and in some cases, surgery.
Drinking lots of fluids, a low salt diet and no caffeine or stimulants have been found to help too.
In terms of your question about your father’s condition, Meniere’s disease can be hereditary but only in a small number of cases.
Was anyone else affected on your dad’s side of the family – his parents, siblings or wider family?
In the rare occasions it is hereditary, it tends to start at quite a young age, between 40 and 60, so seems unlikely in your sister’s case.
That said, it is worth your sister mentioning it to her GP and the audiology team who are helping with the hearing aids.
