Fainting Can Indicate Deadly Heart Condition
February 28, 2012
ABC News’ Andrea Canning Reports:
Fainting, it happens to 60 percent of all Americans at some point, and it has stricken many when the cameras rolled and the stage lights shined the brightest.
Akshay Buddiga hit the floor during the National Spelling Bee in 2004, Marie Osmond collapsed on Dancing with the Stars in 2007 and American Idol’s Symone Black fell off the stage during this season’s auditions.
“People faint when there’s a decreased blood flow to the brain,” Dr. Larence Phillips, an assistant professor of medicine at New York University, told ABC News.
“It kind of occurs temporarily, and then they pass out and then the blood flow restores to the brain, which causes them to wake up.”It is an occurrence so common that few seek medical attention.
“Everyone doesn’t have to be alarmed that there is a serious medical problem if they pass out. But it is important for the first time you pass out that you do have further evaluation,” Phillips said. “It’s important to try to get to the bottom of why people are fainting.”
Click here for a checklist of questions to ask your doctor when diagnosing fainting.
Kristine Breese thought her occasional fainting was no big deal, but now the 47-year-old mother of two and marathon runner is speaking out as part of an international public awareness campaign to get more people to pay attention to what fainting can signal.
Experts say that 25 percent of the time, fainting can indicate a potentially deadly heart condition, a condition Breese had for years before it was finally diagnosed after she passed out at home in the presence of her sister-in-law.
“My skin was gray, and I was shaking. … She was telling me that she had called 911. I said something like ‘I can’t go to the hospital; I’ve got to cook dinner,’” Breese told ABC News.
Instead, she was rushed to the hospital, where doctors referred her to specialists. While they were running tests, Breese went into cardiac arrest.“
My heart actually stopped, and the doctor had to resuscitate me,” she said.
Breese was diagnosed with cardiogenic syncope, or an irregular heartbeat.
“The great news was that they knew exactly what to do and that would be for me to get a pacemaker,” Breese said. “I didn’t think I could be someone with a heart condition. … What I learned through this whole experience [was] to take symptoms seriously and to take myself seriously.”
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Related website: Take Fainting to Heart (fainting.com)
---------- Post added at 09:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:48 PM ----------
What Causes Fainting?
WebMD
---------- Post added at 09:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:13 PM ----------
Common Questions
Fainting.com
What should I do if I feel faint?
If you feel faint:
What should I do if someone else faints?
If someone else faints:
February 28, 2012
ABC News’ Andrea Canning Reports:
Fainting, it happens to 60 percent of all Americans at some point, and it has stricken many when the cameras rolled and the stage lights shined the brightest.
Akshay Buddiga hit the floor during the National Spelling Bee in 2004, Marie Osmond collapsed on Dancing with the Stars in 2007 and American Idol’s Symone Black fell off the stage during this season’s auditions.
“People faint when there’s a decreased blood flow to the brain,” Dr. Larence Phillips, an assistant professor of medicine at New York University, told ABC News.
“It kind of occurs temporarily, and then they pass out and then the blood flow restores to the brain, which causes them to wake up.”It is an occurrence so common that few seek medical attention.
“Everyone doesn’t have to be alarmed that there is a serious medical problem if they pass out. But it is important for the first time you pass out that you do have further evaluation,” Phillips said. “It’s important to try to get to the bottom of why people are fainting.”
Click here for a checklist of questions to ask your doctor when diagnosing fainting.
Kristine Breese thought her occasional fainting was no big deal, but now the 47-year-old mother of two and marathon runner is speaking out as part of an international public awareness campaign to get more people to pay attention to what fainting can signal.
Experts say that 25 percent of the time, fainting can indicate a potentially deadly heart condition, a condition Breese had for years before it was finally diagnosed after she passed out at home in the presence of her sister-in-law.
“My skin was gray, and I was shaking. … She was telling me that she had called 911. I said something like ‘I can’t go to the hospital; I’ve got to cook dinner,’” Breese told ABC News.
Instead, she was rushed to the hospital, where doctors referred her to specialists. While they were running tests, Breese went into cardiac arrest.“
My heart actually stopped, and the doctor had to resuscitate me,” she said.
Breese was diagnosed with cardiogenic syncope, or an irregular heartbeat.
“The great news was that they knew exactly what to do and that would be for me to get a pacemaker,” Breese said. “I didn’t think I could be someone with a heart condition. … What I learned through this whole experience [was] to take symptoms seriously and to take myself seriously.”
--------
Related website: Take Fainting to Heart (fainting.com)
---------- Post added at 09:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:48 PM ----------
What Causes Fainting?
WebMD
Fainting may have a variety of causes. A simple faint, also called a vasovagal attack or neurally-mediated syncope, is the most common type of fainting. It is most common in children and young adults. A vasovagal attack happens because blood pressure drops, reducing circulation to the brain and causing loss of consciousness. Typically an attack occurs while standing and is frequently preceded by a sensation of warmth, nausea, lightheadedness and visual "grayout." If the syncope is prolonged, it can trigger a seizure.
You may suffer from a simple faint due to anxiety, fear, pain, intense emotional stress, hunger or use of alcohol or drugs. Most people who suffer from simple fainting have no underlying heart or neurological (nerve or brain) problem.
Some people have a problem with the way their body regulates their blood pressure, particularly when they move too quickly from a lying or sitting position to a standing position. This condition is called postural hypotension and may be severe enough to cause fainting. This type of fainting is more common in the elderly, people who recently had a lengthy illness that kept them in bed and people who have poor muscle tone.
The following can cause fainting, too:
You may suffer from a simple faint due to anxiety, fear, pain, intense emotional stress, hunger or use of alcohol or drugs. Most people who suffer from simple fainting have no underlying heart or neurological (nerve or brain) problem.
Some people have a problem with the way their body regulates their blood pressure, particularly when they move too quickly from a lying or sitting position to a standing position. This condition is called postural hypotension and may be severe enough to cause fainting. This type of fainting is more common in the elderly, people who recently had a lengthy illness that kept them in bed and people who have poor muscle tone.
The following can cause fainting, too:
- Diseases of the autonomic nervous system. Your autonomic nervous system is the part of your nervous system that controls involuntary vital functions, such as the beating of your heart, the degree to which your blood vessels are constricted, and breathing. Autonomic nervous system problems include acute or subacute dysautonomia, chronic post-ganglionic autonomic insufficiency, and chronic pre-ganglionic autonomic insufficiency. If you have one of these disorders, you are likely to have other serious symptoms, such as erectile dysfunction (inability to have or maintain an erection), loss of bladder and bowel control, loss of the normal reflexes of your pupils, or decreased sweating, tearing, and salivation.
- Conditions that interfere with the parts of the nervous system that regulate blood pressure and heart rate. These conditions include diabetes, alcoholism, malnutrition, and amyloidosis (in which waxy protein builds up in the tissues and organs). If you take certain high blood pressure medications, which act on your blood vessels, you may be more likely to suffer from fainting. If you are dehydrated, which may affect the amount of blood in your body and, thus, your blood pressure, you may be more likely to faint.
- Heart or blood vessel problems that interfere with blood flow to the brain. These may include heart block (a problem with the electrical impulses that control your heart muscle), problems with the sinus node (a specialized area of your heart that helps it beat), heart arrhythmia (irregular heart rhythm), a blood clot in your lungs, an abnormally narrowed aortic heart valve, or certain other problems with the structure of your heart.
- Conditions that may cause unusual patterns of stimulation to particular nerves. These include micturition syncope (fainting during or after urination), glossopharyngeal neuralgia (fainting due to inflammation and pain in a particular nerve to the mouth); cough syncope (fainting after intense coughing) and stretch syncope (fainting that occurs when stretching the neck and arms).
- Hyperventilation. If you become intensely anxious or panicked and breathe too quickly, you may faint from hyperventilation (taking in too much oxygen and getting rid of too much carbon dioxide too quickly).
---------- Post added at 09:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:13 PM ----------
Common Questions
Fainting.com
What should I do if I feel faint?
If you feel faint:
- Lie or sit down.
- If you sit down, place your head between your knees.
- Tell your doctor about the episode.
What should I do if someone else faints?
If someone else faints:
- Position the person on his or her back.
- If the person is breathing, raise the person’s leg above the heart level to restore blood to the brain.
- Loosen the belt and collar.
- Check the person’s airway to be sure it’s clear, and watch for vomiting.
- Check for signs of breathing, coughing, or movement.
- When the person regains consciousness, don’t let him or her get up too quickly.
- If the person doesn’t regain consciousness within one minute, call 911.
