Fainting
- Fainting Overview
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Fainting Overview
Fainting, which medical professionals call syncope (pronounced SIN-ko-pea), is a temporary loss of consciousness. Unlike a seizure, the person who faints usually regains alertness soon after regaining consciousness. Fainting is caused by a temporary loss of the brain’s blood supply. Fainting can sometimes be a sign of a more serious condition.
People of any age can faint, but elderly persons more often have a serious underlying cause.
- Three percent of adults aged 30-62 years have an episode of syncope, but 6% of those older than 75 years faint.
- Syncope accounts for 1-3% of emergency department visits and 1-6% of hospital admissions.
- The biggest risk is in people with heart disease, especially those with congestive heart failure or coronary heart disease.
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Fainting
Vertigo Overview
Vertigo is the feeling that you or your environment is moving or spinning. It differs from dizziness in that vertigo describes an illusion of movement. When you feel as if you yourself are moving, it's called subjective vertigo, and the perception that your surroundings are moving is called objective vertigo.
Unlike nonspecific lightheadedness or dizziness, vertigo has relatively few causes.
Vertigo Causes
Vertigo can be caused by problems in the brain or the
inner ear.
- Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common form of vertigo and is
characterized by the sensation of motion initiated by sudden head movements or moving the head in a certain direction. This type of vertigo is rarely serious and can be treated.
- Vertigo may also be caused by inflammation within the inner ear (labyrinthitis), which is characterized by the sudden onset of...
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Syncope and Related Paroxysmal Spells »
Syncope is a term used to describe the loss of consciousness from temporary disruption of cerebral oxygenation.
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