Fainting (cont.)

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Medical Author:

Jerry R. Balentine, DO, FACEP

Dr. Balentine received his undergraduate degree from McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. He attended medical school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine graduating in1983. He completed his internship at St. Joseph's Hospital in Philadelphia and his Emergency Medicine residency at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the Bronx, where he served as chief resident.

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Medical Editor:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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When to Seek Medical Care

Because fainting can be caused by a serious condition, all episodes of fainting should be taken serious, and anyone who has a first episode of fainting needs to be evaluated by a health care practitioner as soon as possible. If the patient has a history of fainting and a specific diagnosis explaining the syncopal episodes, they should still make their health care practitioner aware that he or she had another episode of fainting, and let the health care practitioner decide if the patient needs to be evaluated. Although most people with a history of vasovagal, situational or postural causes of fainting do not require hospitalization, many doctors prefer to have anyone that faints or has a "short loss of consciousness" be examined by a health care professional.

Fainting Diagnosis»

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