Recent research has suggested that Ménière's disease may be a consequence of a number of individual conditions rather than developing from a single cause. This means that determining the different conditions that cause Ménière's disease will help the investigators to provide effective treatments. Experience from other similar medical conditions has taught the investigators that the best method to identify different causes of a condition is via a process called 'clinical subtyping'. The investigators intend to set up a large Ménière's disease database in order to allow then to subtype Ménière's disease. More specifically, the proposed project aspires to achieve two aims. The investigators intend to investigate a sub-type of Ménière's disease, bilateral disease, i.e. both ears affected. The study hopes to identify what features predict an individual developing bilateral Ménière's disease. Secondly, to test the feasibility of expanding the database across the whole of the UK to involve all Ménière's disease patients. This will allow many other features of Ménière's disease to be used to establish sub-types and help predict the best treatment for individual patients.
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To acquire data on existing Ménière's disease patients from three UK regions.
Timeframe: 20 minutes
An estimation of the prevalence and incidence of bilateral disease:
Timeframe: through study completion, an average of 1 year
Putative risk factors for the conversion from unilateral to bilateral disease:
Timeframe: through study completion, an average of 1 year