Meniere's, migraine, and motion sickness.

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Otolaryngology
• Vestibular Science

Background:

• Pathologies of the vestibular system significantly influence motion sickness susceptibility (MSS).
• While vestibular migraine elevates MSS, the relationship between MSS and Meniere's disease (MD), which often involves vestibular and migraine symptoms, is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate and compare motion sickness susceptibility (MSS) in individuals diagnosed with Meniere's disease (MD) versus a control group.
• To determine if elevated MSS in MD is linked to the disease itself or co-occurring migraine conditions.

Main Methods:

• An online survey assessed diagnostic questions, headache/migraine frequency, visual display dizziness (VDD), syncope, and social/work impact of dizziness (SWID4).
• Motion sickness susceptibility was measured using the MSSQ.
• Participants included 751 diagnosed MD individuals with hearing loss and 400 controls without MD.

Main Results:

• The MD group exhibited significantly higher MSS, headache/migraine frequency, VDD, SWID4 scores, and syncope compared to controls.
• Elevated MSS in MD patients was observed only after disease onset, not prior or in childhood.
• Multivariate analysis identified VDD, SWID4, and adult MSS as key predictors of MD, whereas headache and migraine were not significant predictors.

Conclusions:

• Elevated motion sickness susceptibility (MSS) is a consequence of Meniere's disease (MD) onset, rather than an independent factor or solely related to migraine.
• The findings highlight the significant impact of MD on vestibular function and associated symptoms like motion sickness.