In the study, which was concucted at Chieti-Pescara University in Italy and published in the June is of the journal Minerva Medica, researchers monitored 107 patients between the ages of 35 and 55 who were diagnosed with Meniere’s disease and suffering from symptoms of tinnitus. The disease is a disorder of the inner ear that includes symptoms of ringing in the ears, balance problems and mild hearing loss. The patients all received best management protocols that included a variety of pharamceuticals. The Pycnogenol group also received 150 mg/day of the extract.
Results were recorded based on observational and reported scales for symptoms such as tinnitus, feeling of pressure and unsteady gait.
Inner-ear blood flow velocity was measured using a high-resolution, linear imaging probe. At baseline, flow velocity at the level of the affected ear was significantly lower in comparison with the other ear showing cochlear hypoperfusion.
There was more significant improvement in all registry items at both three and six months in the Pycnogenol® group as compared to the control group. After six months of observation, nearly 90 percent (87.3%) of subjects in the Pycnogenol® group were asymptomatic, as compared to just more than 34 percent (34.6%) in the control group.
Source: Minerva Medica
“Improvement in symptoms and cochlear flow with Pycnogenol in patients with Meniere’s disease and tinnitus”
June 2014105(3):245-54
Authors: Luzzi R., Belcaro G., Hu S., Dugall M., Hosoi M., Cacchio M., Ippolito E., Corsi M.