Never underestimate even a single fainting. Loss of consciousness can be an important sign of an illness in your body. Fainting can be caused by stress, low blood pressure, and heart disease such as arrhythmia.

Faintingis medically a transient, short-term, reversible and self-remittingloss of consciousness . At least 3.5 million Europeans experience syncope each year. More than a third of people who experience fainting remain unexplained and are not properly diagnosed.

Common symptoms of fainting are: pale, cold and sweaty skin, dizziness, spots in front of eyes, nausea (sometimes). These symptoms may precede or appear during fainting.

The risk of fainting increases sharply in people over the age of 70. These people often experience fainting moments before falling. Fainting then may be misread as a result rather than a cause. Only a small percentage of people with syncope seek medical attention.

Reflex syncope is most common, especially in young people. These are relatively mild syncope in association with stimuli. However, a person who experiences fainting should always see a doctor to rule out cardiac causes, as fainting due to cardiac causes increases the risk of death.

What is fainting?

Fainting is a temporary loss of consciousness. It results from a temporary stoppage of oxygenated blood to the brain due to a drop in blood pressure or heart problems. Both factors can also cause fainting at the same time, and can be due to a number of different reasons. Causes such as heart disease double the risk of death.

What are the types and causes of fainting?

  • Reflex syncope , neurogenic. They consist in the fact that the heart does not supply the brain with the right amount of blood for only a moment. It is not caused by heart disease, but improper impulse transmission by the reflex arc, which is part of the nervous system. In this case, the pressure drops, sometimes the heart rate slows down, but after a few or a dozen seconds everything returns to normal. A person who fainted can function normally after such an incident, answers questions logically, knows what happened, behavesbalance, can move independently.
  • Cardiogenic syncopeis the second most common type of syncope and is most often caused by arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythms) and reduced cardiac output and blood flow to the brain.
  • Orthostatic hypotension , sometimes called postural hypotension as opposed to reflex syncope, is usually a recurring event in which blood pressure drops while standing. According to the guidelines, the cause is a circulatory disorder where fainting is one of the symptoms alongside dizziness, fatigue, palpitations, blurred vision and even back pain.
Important

It can hurt!

  • We don't give any food or drink to anyone who passes out
  • we do not give our own medications, heart drops or the so-called sobering s alts
  • you must not shake or shake a fainted person
  • you should not pour water on a fainted person, because it will only deepen the shock; you can only wipe his face, neck and neck with a towel dipped in cold water

Frequent fainting: necessary tests

Most syncope is not serious, but it can also be a symptom of serious problems. Therefore, when the momentary loss of consciousness recurs, it is necessary to consult a specialist. The doctor will ask about the circumstances of the incident, check and do an EKG.

A history is of particular importance as symptoms indicate what kind of fainting it is. If the ECG results are normal, and the interview describes the features characteristic of reflex syncope, the diagnosis is complete.

Heart disease, especially arrhythmia, should be monitored by your doctor. The examination must last long enough to record the moment of fainting. The heart rate is monitored by putting a recorder on the patient for 24 hours (or several days) - a device that continuously records the heart rate.

A modern method of controlling heart rate and syncope is implantation of an arrhythmia recorder (ILR) under the skin, on the chest. The device is smaller than a matchbox and has no wires to connect it to the heart. The recorder is worn until the first syncope occurs.

Then, by applying a special head, read the ECG record and then you know what caused the fainting. The device is expected to remain active for two years, but is removed after the syncope incident and diagnosis is made.

DVRs are put on people who rarely faint. Then it can neither be captured nor saved by non-invasive methodswhat happens to your heart when you faint. If an arrhythmia is found, the cardiologist must first of all determine its causes.

They are sometimes trivial, but often arrhythmia is caused by ischemic disease, hypertension, electrolyte disturbances. Then the root cause of the arrhythmia must be treated.

People plagued by frequent fainting suffer from a reduced quality of life, sometimes they may have depression or anxiety triggered by fear of sudden loss of consciousness. Fear of such an event quite often causes people prone to fainting to avoid leaving the home without the company of another person.

You must do it

During a visit to the doctor:

  • describe the situation in which you fainted (e.g. sudden change of position or standing for a long time, physical exertion);
  • list him the symptoms that preceded fainting (not always present) and those that occurred after he regained consciousness
  • (e.g. dizziness, palpitations, nausea, severe stress, fear, panic) and after regaining consciousness;
  • inform about heart disease, epilepsy or Parkinson's disease (if previously diagnosed) and about medications;
  • tell about family history of sudden death from heart disease, or immediate family history of heart disease;
  • provide information if the event occurred for the first time, and if not, under what circumstances and how often the fainting occurred before.

What to do when you feel you are about to collapse

In 10 percent of people (some experts say up to 20-30 percent), it is not possible to determine the cause of the syncope. People prone to fainting should avoid stuffy and overheated rooms. Good hydration of the body also protects against fainting, so you should drink a lot, especially in summer - up to 3-4 liters of fluid. Even when you feel that you may pass out in a moment, you have a few seconds to avoid it. What to do?

  • Ask someone to stay with you for a while.
  • If possible, lie down. Support your legs so that they are higher than your head. When you are unable to lie down, while standing, cross your legs as high as possible, while slightly leaning forward. At the same time, try to climb on your toes and tense the muscles of your legs and buttocks. In this way, you will stimulate the muscle pump to work, which will facilitate the return of blood to the heart and its flow to the brain. Bring your hands together at chest level by hooking the fingers of one hand over the other, and then try to stretch them.
  • If it is not appropriate for you to do such maneuvers,slowly kneel down on one knee, pretending to adjust something on the shoe. Lower your head as low as possible. Now calmly change your knee. Get up very slowly, keep your head tilted as if checking that your shoes are tied well or that there are no debris left on your knees.
  • You can sit on a chair and, pretending to adjust something next to your shoe, lower your head low (so that it almost touches your knees). This position will facilitate blood flow to the brain.
  • Exercise ECG (stress test) - heart rate test
  • Electrocardiography (EKG) is a study of the heart. What is it about? What are the indications
  • OMDLENIA - first aid and prevention

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