‘Bachelor’ hopeful Daisy Kent has Ménière’s disease. Here’s what to know.
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With so many women competing for Joey Graziadei’s heart on this season of “The Bachelor,” it can be difficult to stand out. But Daisy Kent, a 25-year old from Becker, Minn., has emerged as an early fan favorite, in part because of her openness about her profound hearing loss after developing a rare condition called Ménière’s disease.
During the show’s first episode earlier this month, Kent arrived in a sparkling pink evening gown and a vintage red pickup truck with a Christmas tree in the back. (She grew up on a Christmas tree farm.) In Monday’s episode, she was selected for the first one-on-one date of the season. On the date, she told Graziadei that she started losing her hearing as a teenager and now wears a cochlear implant, an electronic hearing device that is surgically implanted and includes a component worn behind the ear. On her TikTok account, she has shared that her hearing loss was the result of Ménière’s disease.
“A life with me is probably going to look a little different than with any other girl in the house,” she told him. “The reason I can communicate with you the way I can is because I have a cochlear implant.”
Kent noted that appearing on “The Bachelor” marks the first time she has dated a new person since getting the implant and that she was nervous about the experience. She spoke about the struggles that can come with hearing loss and how overwhelmed she sometimes feels in social situations with other contestants.
A TikTok video explaining a moment on the show when she struggled to hear has 1.4 million views. “Notice how I say ‘hmmm.’ I got confused,” she said. “For me, walking into a big room where there are a lot of voices and a lot of noises bouncing off the wall, no matter where I am, it can be a little overwhelming because there’s so much sound coming in from different areas.”
Kent’s popularity appears to be on the rise. She has amassed more than 87,000 followers on her TikTok account. Some commenters have thanked her for educating others about the condition, or have celebrated the fact that they feel represented on the show. (Kent is not the first contestant to use a cochlear implant. Abigail Heringer wore one and appeared on Season 25 of the Bachelor.)
Experts said Kent is helping raise awareness about a condition that is not very well-known or understood, and they are hopeful that this can drive more research on the disease. Kent also recently wrote a children’s book called “Daisy Doo: All the Sounds She Knew” about living with a cochlear implant.
“There are so many people suffering with this disorder we know so little about,” said Bryan Ward, an otolaryngologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “More awareness about how debilitating it can be and how little we understand about it can help drive research and attention to it.”
The Washington Post spoke to experts to learn more about the condition, potential treatments and what causes it.
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What is Ménière’s disease?
Ménière’s disease is a condition in which people experience fluctuating hearing loss, feelings of fullness in their ear, tinnitus, dizziness and episodes of nausea-inducing spinning sensations called vertigo. Typically, Ménière’s disease impacts one ear, though experts estimate that anywhere from 10 to 40 percent of patients will eventually get symptoms in their second ear. Kent has said she has symptoms in both ears.
These symptoms are related to a buildup of excess fluid in the inner ear chambers, which include the cochlea, which plays a role in hearing, and the vestibular system, which plays a role in balance and spatial orientation.
At first, someone with Ménière’s disease usually experiences fluctuating symptoms. “It’s like a smoldering fire, and then all of a sudden it flames up,” said Alan G. Micco, professor of otolaryngology at Northwestern University.
While attacks are different for everyone, experts said they usually start with feelings of fullness in the ear and increased loudness of tinnitus (a ringing in the ear). People usually experience temporary hearing loss or distortion as well as debilitating vertigo which can make it seem as though the room is spinning can cause nausea or vomiting.
Kent says she feels pressure in her ears and has experienced hearing loss, vertigo and “a ton of tinnitus.” “Vertigo is the worst, and that is one of the worst things about Ménière’s disease,” Kent said in a TikTok video.
For people with Ménière’s, attacks tend to occur in clusters, so patients may get frequent attacks for a few weeks, followed by a quiet period that can last for several weeks or months, said Joel A. Goebel, chair of the medical and scientific board for the Vestibular Disorders Association and professor emeritus of otolaryngology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
These attacks often cause lasting damage to the inner ear, Ward said, resulting in permanent hearing loss, especially at lower frequencies. Over time, these vertigo attacks get less frequent and usually stop after about eight years, Ward said, but people can still experience ringing in their ears, feelings of pressure or fluctuations in their hearing.
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What causes Ménière’s disease?
The condition probably has multiple causes. It can be genetic, and several genes have been identified that could increase risk for Ménière’s, said Jose Antonio Lopez-Escamez, professor of Meniere disease and neuroscience at the University of Sydney. Environmental factors can also play a role in whether this disease gets triggered in some people and not others, he said. For example, getting some sort of infection or having a traumatic hearing-loss injury could play a role.
Lopez-Escamez said some people with Ménière’s disease have higher levels of systemic inflammation in their bodies, which suggests that allergies or autoimmune diseases also could play a role.
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Can Lyme disease trigger Ménière’s?
In her TikTok video, Kent said that in her family, there was no history of hearing loss. On social media and during Monday’s show, Kent said it’s possible her condition is related to Lyme disease. Lyme disease is transmitted through the bite of an infected tick, and untreated Lyme disease can produce a wide range of chronic symptoms.
During the show, she described a time in her life when she was constantly ill and traveled to Germany to seek treatment for Lyme. “I spent a lot of time in bed, moved home,” she said. “I didn’t think my life was ever going to get better or feel better.”
Goebel said that while he isn’t familiar with Kent’s medical history, the link between Lyme disease, Ménière’s and hearing loss, is “possible.”
“Lyme disease can trigger long-lasting effects and autoimmune processes,” Goebel said, adding that Lyme disease could cause the immune system to attack the inner ear.
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How common is Ménière’s disease?
Ménière’s disease is considered rare and affects about 0.2 percent of the population. It also seems to impact women more than men, experts said.
Ménière’s disease can start at any age, but it is more likely to be diagnosed in people who are between 40 and 60 years old, Lopez-Escamez said.
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What can trigger ‘attacks’ for people with Ménière’s disease?
Certain foods, including salt, as well as food allergies, stress or illness can trigger the condition. Atmospheric pressure changes, such as when the temperature suddenly changes and a cold front comes in, could also play a role in triggering Ménière’s attacks for some patients. For others, loud noise can trigger an attack.
“Ménière’s disease is highly variable,” Goebel said. “Each Ménière’s patient gets to know their pattern.”
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Is there a cure for Ménière’s disease?
There’s no known cure for the condition. But, there are treatments to manage a patient’s flare-ups or attacks, which can be targeted to their specific triggers.
Usually, doctors will try more conservative treatments first, such as dietary changes, diuretics to reduce fluid buildup or steroid treatments. In severe cases, more aggressive and risky treatments, such as antibiotic therapies and surgery, may be considered as last-resort treatments. Some people with the condition see their symptoms abate over time.
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