6 signs that dizziness is life-threatening

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you notice this, run to the doctor or call an ambulance.

Let's say right away: in most cases, dizziness is not dangerous. They carry only one risk: having felt vertigo (as scientists call this sensation), if you are very unlucky, you can stumble, fall and earn a sprain or abrasion. And most likely, it won't even happen.

However, there are times when dizziness suggests a really serious health problem.

Why is my head spinning

In general terms, the causes of vertigo are simple. Most often, vertigo occurs when communication between the brain and the inner ear, where the vestibular apparatus is located, is disrupted. The brain loses its orientation in space, which makes it feel as if the ground is slipping from under your feet. To maintain an upright position, gray matter triggers a cascade of reactions designed to restore a sense of balance. Some of these reactions also affect the vomiting center, which is why dizziness is often accompanied by an attack of nausea. This, for example, happens when. However, this is a slightly different story.

Fortunately, such loss of contact between the brain and the vestibular apparatus is rare and lasts for just a few seconds. Doctors fail to see What Causes Dizziness? in such short-term incidents reasons for panic.

Also, don't worry too much if you feel dizzy for longer, but due to several common reasons. These include:

• alcohol intoxication;
• side effects from medications taken (check the instructions!);
• dehydration;
• overheating and thermal shock;
• travel by car, bus or ship;
• anemia - in particular, low iron content in the blood;
• hypoglycemia - low blood sugar;
• drop in blood pressure;
• excessively intense exercise;
• some ear infections.

Of course, vertigo is always unpleasant. But in these situations, they are one-time and short-term and do not threaten life. And the accompanying symptoms allow you to guess the causes of the ailment.

Dizziness is not an independent disease, but a symptom that can accompany more than 80 physiological conditions and diseases.

Marked the phrase "most of the time"? Let's move on to the minority - those conditions that can pose a real threat to health and even life. And dizziness is the most important symptom here.

When dizziness is dangerous

Neurologists distinguish six conditions 6 Signs A Sudden Dizzy Spell Could Be Something More Serious, in which vertigo is the key and almost the only symptom that suggests the development of a serious, but still latent disease.

1. Head spinning often and for more than a few minutes

This may indicate a serious dizziness disorder in the inner ear. For example, about vestibular neuritis (viral infection of the vestibular nerve) or labyrinthitis (internal otitis media).

Such diseases are dangerous because at first they can be almost asymptomatic, and in the future their pathogens can affect the brain and nervous system - up to death.

2. Dizziness is accompanied by severe weakness, numbness of a part of the body, problems with speech and / or vision

Warning: this combination of symptoms can be a sign of a stroke! A stroke is a violation of the cerebral circulation. According to statistics, it is the second (after myocardial infarction) cause of death in Russia.

Be sure to test someone experiencing this kind of dizziness with the one-minute Got a Minute? You Could Diagnose Stroke:

• Ask the patient to smile broadly to show their teeth. If a person has a stroke, the smile will not be symmetrical: the corners of the lips will harden at different levels.
• Ask to close your eyes and raise your hands. A stroke (more precisely, the disturbances in the functioning of the nerve endings and muscle weakness caused by it) will not allow the victim to raise his arms to the same height.
• Offer to repeat a simple, few-word sentence after you. For example: "I'm fine, and now it will become obvious." If there is a stroke, it will be difficult for a person to remember and reproduce the phrase. In addition, its pronunciation will be indistinct, with an obvious lisp on voiced consonants.

In the same way, when in doubt, you can try to check yourself.

If at least one task is failed, urgently call an ambulance. Stroke is extremely dangerous: up to 84% of patients die or remain disabled, and only about 16% recover. You have only 3-6 hours to try to be among the lucky ones with the help of doctors.

3. You always feel dizzy when you get up

Short-term orthostatic hypotension (a decrease in blood pressure, including in the brain, which causes dizziness) is a fairly common condition and not that dangerous.

Most often, it is associated with the fact that the body does not have enough fluid. On the basis of slight dehydration, the blood becomes thicker, blood circulation worsens, so it is not difficult to earn orthostatic hypotension when standing up from a lying or sitting position. This problem is solved simply: do not forget to drink water, especially in hot summer or during serious physical exertion.

But if you are absolutely sure that you do not have dehydration, and dizziness accompanies your every ascent, you should visit a therapist as soon as possible. Such symptoms indicate possible cardiovascular diseases (arrhythmia, heart failure) or neuropathy - non-inflammatory lesions of the nerves.

4. You have had attacks of unbearable headaches

Many are familiar with the word "migraine", but most believe that we are talking exclusively about a throbbing headache. However, this is not entirely true: prolonged repetitive dizziness can also be a migraine.

This neuropsychiatric disorder is potentially dangerous. What is a migraine emergency? for life, as it can lead to a stroke or heart attack.

If your dizziness lasts for several hours or more, occurs regularly, and in the past you have had a headache, be sure to consult with a physician to determine their possible causes and consequences.

We warn you: you may need hardware diagnostics - CT or MRI, the direction for which will be given again by the doctor.

5. You recently bumped your head

Vertigo is one of the most striking symptoms of a concussion. It is important to see a physician as soon as possible in order to exclude serious damage and tissue edema.

6. During training, you are constantly dizzy

Most often, the dehydration mentioned above is to blame for such conditions. Or hyperventilation: due to rapid breathing in the blood, the oxygen level rises and the carbon dioxide content decreases, which causes dizziness. Therefore, it is important to drink an amount of fluid adequate to the load and not be too zealous with cardio loads.

If you are absolutely sure that you are drinking your water norm, and your head starts to spin even during absolutely "retirement" exercises, look to the doctor. In this case, it is necessary to exclude the possibility of potentially dangerous cardiovascular disorders.