Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Aug;21(8):886-9.
doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000000190.

Menopause and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

Oluwaseye Ayoola Ogun  1 , Bela Büki, Edward S Cohn, Kristen L Janky, Yunxia Wang Lundberg
Affiliations

Menopause and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

Oluwaseye Ayoola Ogun et al. Menopause. 2014 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: This study was designed to examine the age and sex distribution and the effects of menopause in a large cohort of participants diagnosed with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).

Methods: We analyzed 1,377 BPPV patients and surveyed 935 women from this group-all diagnosed at the Boys Town National Research Hospital in the last decade.

Results: A detailed age and sex distribution analysis of BPPV onset showed that aging had a profound impact on BPPV occurrence in both sexes, and that perimenopausal women were especially susceptible to BPPV (3.2:1 female-to-male ratio). The latter is a novel finding and was confirmed by a direct survey of female BPPV patients (168 participated). In addition, there was a pronounced female preponderance (6.8:1 female-to-male ratio) in BPPV in the teenage group despite its low prevalence in this age group.

Conclusions: Data suggest that hormonal fluctuations (especially during menopause) may increase the tendency to develop BPPV.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Otoconia movements in BPPV. (Left) During night rest, otoconia fall from the utricular macula into the semicircular canal (arrow). (Right) During sitting up, movement of otoconia in the canal causes abnormal endolymph motion and vertigo.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Parnes LS, Agrawal SK, Atlas J. Diagnosis and management of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) CMAJ. 2003 Sep 30;169(7):681–93. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mizukoshi K, Watanabe Y, Shojaku H, Okubo J, Watanabe I. Epidemiological studies on benign paroxysmal positional vertigo in Japan. Acta Otolaryngol.Suppl. 1988;447:67–72. - PubMed
    1. Oghalai JS, Manolidis S, Barth JL, Stewart MG, Jenkins HA. Unrecognized benign paroxysmal positional vertigo in elderly patients. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2000 May;122(5):630–4. - PubMed
    1. Buki B, Simon L, Garab S, Lundberg YW, Junger H, Straumann D. Sitting-up vertigo and trunk retropulsion in patients with benign positional vertigo but without positional nystagmus. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2011 Jan;82(1):98–104. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Katsarkas A. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV): idiopathic versus post-traumatic. Acta Otolaryngol. 1999;119(7):745–9. - PubMed

Publication types