January - Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is one of the most common causes of dizziness and one of the easiest to diagnose and treat. It has been estimated that at least 20% of patients who complain to their physician about vertigo problems have BPPV. However, because BPPV is frequently misdiagnosed, this figure may not be completely accurate, and is probably underestimated. The symptoms of BPPV include dizziness or vertigo, light-headedness, imbalance, and nausea.

February - Menieres' Disease

Meniere’s Disease is a inner ear disorder that causes episodes of vertigo, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), a feeling of pressure in the ear, and sometimes hearing loss. Meniere’s effects the entire labyrinth of the ear, which includes both semicircular canals and the inner cochlea. Meniere’s Disease is idiopathic disease, meaning the cause of the disease is unknown. Some doctors have their own opinions as to the cause of Meniere's, but opinions are not facts. Most researchers believe that the symptoms of Meniere's in most people are the result of idiopathic endolymphatic hydrops.

March - Motion Sickness

Motion sickness is a common condition found in about 25% of people today. Women are generally more sensitive to motion sickness than men and its been proved in various medical studies. Most people develop motion sickness while on a boat, in a car, air sickness, or from a reading a book in a busy environment. Anyone can develop motion sickness with the appropriate stimulus unless the individual has a non-functioning vestibular system.

April - Unilateral Vestibular Deficit

Unilateral vestibular loss (UVL) is one of the more common pathologies involving the inner ear and the nerves related to it. UVL makes up about 14-20% of all inner ear pathologies. People with an uncompensated UVL report symptoms in a great variety of ways, such as wooziness, light headed, like being on a boat, funny in the head etc. However one relatively common description is of symptoms being provoked or worsened by head movement.

May - Anatomy of the Vestibular System

The vestibular system, which is the system of balance, consists of 5 distinct end organs: 3 semicircular canals that are sensitive to angular accelerations (head rotations) and 2 otoliths that are sensitive to linear (or straight-line) accelerations. The semicircular canals are arranged as a set of 3 mutually orthogonal sensors; that is, each canal is at a right angle to the other two. This is similar to the way 3 sides of a box meet at each corner and are at a right angle to one another. Furthermore, each canal is maximally sensitive to rotations that lie in the plane of the canal. The result of this arrangement is that 3 canals can uniquely specify the direction and amplitude of any arbitrary head rotation.

June - Vestibular Infections

When one of the two vestibular nerves is infected, there is an imbalance between the two sides, and vertigo appears. Vestibular neuronitis is another term that is used for the same clinical syndrome. The various terms for the same clinical syndrome probably reflect our lack of ability to localize the site of lesion. The term "neuritis" implies damage to the nerve, and "neuronitis', damage to the sensory neurons of the vestibular ganglion. There is actually evidence for both.

July - Migraine Associated Vertigo

Headaches are very common in the US and effect 98% of the population at some point in their life. Migraines are a great deal more than just a headache and is the most common neurological condition in the world. Migraines affect over 15% of the US population and is more prevalent than diabetes, epilepsy and asthma combined. Migraine affects people of all ages, social classes, races and cultures. However, it is most prevalent during the productive years (20-50) and two thirds of sufferers are women.

Click here to download Adobe Acrobat reader