DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have never seen the subject of Méniére’s disease addressed in your column. Why isn’t more research being done on this debilitating, horrible inner ear disease? So far no one knows what causes it. I am becoming a recluse since this makes me violently ill when I move, so I’d rather stay home so I can get in bed and hold on. Any knowledge you can pass along on this subject will be appreciated. – B.T.

ANSWER: Sporadic episodes of four distressing symptoms define Méniére’s (main-YAIRS) disease. They are: hearing loss, tinnitus (ear noises), dizziness and a sensation of ear fullness. Méniére’s usually begins in a person’s 40s or 50s. Initially, attacks last from 20 minutes to three hours and then recur unpredictably. Dizziness can be so severe that a person is unable to move and must sit or lie quietly until the attack has passed.

As time goes by, the hearing loss and tinnitus can become constant. Dizzy attacks often burn themselves out in time, but that can take as long as six years.

The problem arises from too much fluid in the balance and hearing organs of the inner ear. What causes fluid retention there still puzzles researchers, but be assured that, throughout the world, there are many dedicated scientists working to find the answer to that question.

A low-salt diet coupled with a diuretic (water pill) can often lower the fluid level in the inner ear. Giving up caffeine, in all its forms, helps many Méniére’s patients.

Other treatments depend on the frequency and severity of attacks. Some doctors prescribe a short course of the cortisone drug prednisone. Injecting the antibiotic gentamicin into the ear through the eardrum can sometimes put an end to attacks. Insertion of a drainage tube into the inner ear canals is another possible treatment. Your list of options is quite long.

The pamphlet on dizziness and balance details all its causes along with its treatment. Readers can obtain a copy by writing: Dr. Donohue – No. 801, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.50 U.S./$6.50 Can. with the recipient’s printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am 71. I had a right lung lobectomy four years ago for cancer. I have been doing just great ever since. A recent exam shows my left lung as normal. How can that be? The medical profession tells us that if you smoke more than two packs of cigarettes a day for 46 years, as I did, you will have problems with both lungs. Why are mine normal? Something doesn’t jive. I would like an answer. – C.H.

ANSWER: It’s a fact that the risk of lung cancer for smokers is 13 times the risk it is for nonsmokers. The chance of dying from lung cancer is 70 times greater for smokers than nonsmokers. Why cancer begins in one lung and not the other is unanswerable at the present. That too happens to be a fact. Chemicals in cigarette smoke transform a random lung cell into a cancer cell – a cell whose growth is unregulated. The growing population of these transformed cells gains another cancer attribute – the ability to invade adjacent tissue and to spread to distant issue.

As far as emphysema and bronchitis are concerned, cigarette smoking is their No. 1 cause. Why haven’t you been affected? Because some smokers have inherited a genetic constitution that protects them from the ravages of smoking. In short, you are one lucky person. Don’t push your luck. I trust you no longer smoke.