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Reply To: Tinnitus
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I ran into the below paper across my re-review of my literature review on this topic:
MÉNIÈRE’S SYMPTOM COMPLEX
Its Relation to Chemistry; an Etiologic Study
GRANT SELFRIDGE, M.D.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/article-abstract/585241
^ Full text attached as PDF to this message below…
I have copy-pasted the most important parts below and below that, provided links for the citations:
“Guggenheim [11] referring briefly to Ménière’s syndrome, cited the finding of Somyngi that in allergic states there is depletion of potassium salts in the cells and increase of these salts in the body fluid and that the depletion is corrected through administration of potassium and insulin. He also mentioned a case in which petechial hemorrhages and presence of blood in urine and stool suggested the possibility that permeability of the stria vascularis, increased through deficiency of ascorbic acid, was a cause of Ménière’s disease. He stated further that the most important agent in the prevention of neural degeneration in Ménière’s disease is the vitamin complex, i. e., thiamine and nicotinic acid.
Atkinson [12] contributed a thorough and satisfactory review of the subject. He concluded that allergy and histamine sensitivity accounted for 20 per cent of his cases and that the remaining 80 per cent, cases in which the patient was nonsensitive, were related to lack of nicotinic acid. In 69 of 108 cases data were available for analysis. Relief of vertigo was reported in 32 cases. He considered the disease the result of a constriction of the vascular supply. In a letter dated Feb. 14, 1944, he wrote:
‘I have just completed another paper on my results in 110 patients treated with nicotinic acid. In this series the tinnitus was removed entirely in 13 cases (12 per cent) and improved in 42 (40 per cent). Thus, in half the cases one can achieve an appreciable improvement in this symptom.’
[…]
Adams [14] related deficiency of ascorbic acid to asthenia and Ménière’s disease, in both of which there are apt to be autonomie imbalance and vasomotor disturbances. He observed several cases in which ascorbic acid was absent from the urine, probably because of lack of this vitamin in the diet, and in which the condition was improved or entirely relieved by an increased intake of fruit and food containing ascorbic acid. He referred to O’Dell’s suggestion that lack of this vitamin was a frequent cause of Ménière’s syndrome. In several cases Adams used some of the factors of the B complex [i.e., nicotinic acid] in addition to ascorbic acid.
[…]
Ménière’s disease is a function of the aging process. Talbott and associates [15] in a tabulation of 33 cases, showed that the patients were all 50 years old or older. In my studies, all the patients with eighth nerve deafness who were 40 years of age and over showed definite loss of high tones, severe in most of them. In all the cases the urine showed nicotinic acid definitely low; in half the cases it showed porphyrin increased. When the eyes were checked for dark adaptation by Dr. Evelyn Blanchard with her ‘reginometer,’ the results were out of line in nearly all cases. Many of the patients were 60 years of age and over. It should not be forgotten that the aging process frequently begins in early childhood and not infrequently before birth. Stieglitz [16] made the comment that premature development of the changes of senescence in one or more organs might well be caused by particular dietary deficiencies of the parents and that the geriatric, anatomic and functional changes of the thyroid, pituitary and adrenal glands may be influenced by heredity, by the nutrition of the parents at the time of conception and by the nutrition of the mother before and after birth. The far reaching effect of nicotinic acid deficiency, for instance, has been depicted graphically by Frostig and Spies [17] and others.”
[…]
The experimental dog, Benny, of Morgan and Simms [18] (fig. 1) shows an aging process induced by dietary measures that may have a definite analogy to that of human life. At the age of 6 weeks this dog was restricted to a diet deficient in nicotinic acid and some other unknown. He showed considerable irregularity of gait, especially in the hindlegs, suggesting some disturbance of the vestibular apparatus. The aging process was evidenced by changes of posture, increasing grayness of hair, increasing ptosis of belly muscles and finally inability to stand erect. The dog died at the age of only 3 years; the average life span of a cocker spaniel varies from 8 to 12 years. Inasmuch as this dog’s diet was normal except for the lack of nicotinic acid and some other unknown, it seems obvious that the aging appearance and the pathologic changes are related to the missing factors. The autopsy report showed that the principal organ involved was the adrenal cortex.
[…]
I have noticed that in patients with this type of ear who also complained of stuffy nose and postnasal drip, mucoid in character, with no pus present, improvement followed administration of riboflavin (30 mg. daily) or a vitamin B complex preparation [i.e., nicotinic acid] with ascorbic acid added.”
Citations:
11. https://sci-hub.ru/10.1288/00005537-194008000-00006
12. https://sci-hub.ru/10.1001/archotol.1943.00670030047004
14. https://sci-hub.ru/10.1288/00005537-194008000-00006
15. https://sci-hub.ru/https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022215100004539
16. https://sci-hub.ru/https://doi.org/10.1037/h0052720
17. https://sci-hub.ru/10.1001/archotol.1941.00660040135014
18. https://sci-hub.ru/https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/19.3.233
Good stuff!
