Ménière's disease turn, is strongly associated with developing MD, but not everyone with EH develops MD: "The relationship between endolymphatic hydrops and Meniere's disease is not a simple, ideal correlation." Additionally, in fully developed MD the balance system (vestibular system) and the hearing system (cochlea) of the inner ear are affected, but there are cases where EH affects only one of the two systems strong enough to cause symptoms. The corresponding subtypes of MD are called "vestibular MD", showing symptoms of vertigo, and "cochlear MD", showing symptoms of hearing loss and tinnitus. The mechanism of MD is not fully explained by EH,
Inner ear between 20 and 20,000 Hz. The ability to detect higher pitch sounds decreases in older humans. The human ear has evolved with two basic tools to encode sound waves; each are separate in detecting high and low frequency sounds. Georg von Békésy (1899-1972) employed the use of a microscope in order to examine the basilar membrane located within the inner-ear of cadavers. He found that movement of the basilar membrane resembles that of a traveling wave; the shape of which varies based on the frequency of the pitch. In low frequency sounds, the tip (apex) of the membrane moves the