Tinnitus is not a disease Tinnitus is not a disease, but merely a symptom. By itself, tinnitus does not represent any disease. However, when it takes over a person’s life, it can become a medical problem. These problems include sleep disturbances, fear, anxiety, and withdrawal from family life and friendships. As mentioned earlier, acute tinnitus is accompanied by some kind of damage to the hair cells and impaired blood circulation, so many doctors believe (not all) that immediate medical measures must be taken to increase the oxygen supply to the organs. But chronic tinnitus is definitely not a sign of impending disease. Tinnitus does not indicate the beginning of a stroke, heart attack, Alzheimer’s disease, or similar diseases. Don’t worry about brain tumors and atherosclerosis During the diagnosis of acute and chronic tinnitus, your doctor will examine you for an auditory neuroma, a rare benign tumor that invades the auditory nerve. This tumor can be diagnosed by brainstem audiometry or MRI. Both of these tests are harmless. Similarly, tinnitus does not predict the development of atherosclerosis. The specific cause of tinnitus is often difficult to determine, which indicates that it cannot be treated surgically. When damage to the hair cells of the inner ear is thought to be the cause, such as that caused by noise, surgery cannot be performed on these structures to treat tinnitus.