Unbalanced

Ever had a bout of vertigo? Imagine never knowing when it will strike or how often. Add tinnitus and hearing loss and this is what happens to individuals with Ménière’s disease. The disease damages part of the inner ear called the vestibular apparatus. Researchers investigate how in vestibular tissue removed from those with Ménière’s disease (pictured, left) as part of a last line intervention against Ménière’s debilitating symptoms. Hair cells (that convert sound vibrations into electrical signals transmitted to the brain; red) and nerve fibres (green) were disorganised compared to equivalent tissue in human foetuses (pictured, right). Some vestibular hair cells had died. However, those that survived had normal electrical activity and made contact with nerve fibres. This suggests that surviving hair cells in Ménière’s disease can still work providing hope that vestibular implants could one day help restore balance for these patients.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Lux Fatimathas

Writer

Having pursued science through a career in research, communications and publishing, she is currently a writer and editor for a healthcare marketing agency and also juggles freelance science writing.

• Image from work by Hannah R. Drury and colleagues
• School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Disease Models & Mechanisms, April 2025