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Dizziness

Dizziness Overview

Dizziness is a common description for many different feelings. The feeling of dizziness may be very familiar to you, yet difficult to describe.

Vertigo is a medical term to describe the feeling of spinning, whirling, or motion either of yourself or your surroundings. This is the same feeling you might have after getting off a merry-go-round or spinning in place. Several diseases of the balance organs of the inner ear can cause vertigo, or it may be a symptom of a tumor or stroke.

  • Dizziness may be just mildly annoying or caused by something possibly life threatening.

  • When you might feel dizziness

    • Fainting or near fainting such as "at the sight of blood" or with emotional upset

    • Fainting or near fainting from standing up too quickly or standing still too long

    • Weakness during a flu, cold, or other illness

    • Seasickness or motion sickness

    • Queasiness, nausea, or vomiting

    • Confused thinking

    • Fatigue, tiredness, or daytime sleepiness

    • Clumsy hands or stumbling walking


Next: Dizziness Causes »

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Dizziness, Vertigo, and Imbalance »

Dizziness and vertigo are among the most common symptoms causing patients to visit a physician (as common as back pain and headaches).

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Dizziness

Brain Cancer »

Brain Cancer Overview

Cancers of the brain are the consequence of abnormal growths of cells in the brain. Brain cancers can arise from primary brain cells, from the cells that form other brain components (for example, membranes, blood vessels), or from the growth of cancer cells from other organs that have spread to the brain by the bloodstream (metastatic brain cancer).

  • Although many growths in the brain are popularly called brain tumors, not all brain tumors are cancerous. Cancer is a term reserved for malignant tumors.


  • Malignant tumors grow and spread aggressively, overpowering healthy cells by taking their space, blood, and nutrients. (Like all cells of the body, tumor cells need blood and nutrients to survive.) This is especially a problem in the brain, as the added growth within the closed confines of the skull can lead to an increase in intracranial pressure or the distortion of surrounding vital structures, causing...

Read the Brain Cancer article »


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