Mickey thanks for the kind words and encouragement. (i need that)..I hope to follow yours and Derek's footstep in diet supplements, exercise etc.
My appointment with ENT was today, again he emphasized close observation and repeat MRI in 6 months. He mentioned that few of his patients (with AN & Meningoma) have been on W&W over 3 -4 years (no size was mentioned)
He asked me get a new hearing test ( I think, my hearing is better, because i have hardly any distortion of voice by Phone on the RT. side). We will see...
Another thing, this the latest scientific excerpt: (finding from a board member )
"Herpes and acoustic neuromas: Is there a cause and effect to observe?
Craig G. Burkhart *
University of Toledo College of Medicine, Toledo, OH, USA
Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine at Athens, 5600 Monroe Street, Suite 106B, Sylvania, OH 43560, USA
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 8 January 2010
Accepted 17 January 2010
Indeed,the 1991 Consensus Conference of the National Institutes of
Health recommended surgical excision as the treatment of choice
for symptomatic acoustic neuromas. Aggressive treatment has
been promoted by authors who have drawn an overpessimistic
prognosis by suggesting that they eventually cause clinically significant
problems, then death if not treated [2].†In truth, most tumors
cause few symptoms besides depressed unilateral hearing
loss; of note, both surgery and radiotherapy cause total loss of
hearing of the affected nerve as well as potentially significant other
risks.
Observation is the standard in many countries including Japan
and Canada [3,4]. Moreover, observation is suggested as appropriate
therapy by the Acoustic Neuroma Association, the American
Hearing Research Foundation, and meta-analysis with suggested
treatment algorithm [5].
Although some countries are more surgically oriented, observation
should be a strong consideration in all patients regardless of
age or ability to withstand surgery. The reasoning for observation
begins by realizing that acoustic neuromas are benign tumors
and only produce symptoms, besides decreased hearing, if they enlarge.
On point, most acoustic neuromas grow very slowly. In one
study, 85% of patients had no change in tumor size after over 4
years of follow up [6]. Bederson et al. [7] actually reported 6% of
acoustic neuromas decrease in size with time.
Acoustic neuromas are much more common than reported, as
0.8–2.7% of cadavers reveal asymptomatic intracanalicular acoustic
neuromas [8,9] Thus, most afflicted individuals do not have surgery
or radiation therapy, as these individuals just assume that
they have ‘a bad ear,’ and live with it......
Unless a neuroma grows producing other symptoms due to
compression, the risks of surgery seem way out of proportion to
any perceived benefits. As stated by Flint [15], ‘‘delaying surgery
until required by symptoms or tumor growth does not result in
more morbidity.†Additionally, better treatments may be on the
horizon, including chalcone derivatives and anti-herpetic
prophylaxis.
