Dizziness and fainting are different, so be sure to distinguish them!

Dizziness is a common phenomenon in life. I believe many people have experienced this symptom. There are many reasons for dizziness. People with anemia are more likely to experience dizziness. Some people think that dizziness and fainting are the same thing. Although the two have similarities, they are completely different. If you have symptoms of dizziness, you should pay attention to them. They may be a signal of certain diseases.

What is vertigo? Are vertigo and fainting the same thing?

Vertigo is a subjective sensory disorder in which the patient feels that he or she or the surrounding objects are rotating or shaking, often accompanied by objective balance disorders and usually without consciousness disorders. Syncope, also known as fainting, is a state of brief loss of consciousness caused by transient widespread cerebral ischemia. During an attack, the patient falls to the ground because of loss of muscle tone and inability to maintain a normal posture. It can be seen from this that the pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of vertigo and syncope are different and cannot be mentioned in the same breath.

How does vertigo occur?

Vertigo is mainly caused by lesions of the labyrinth, vestibular nerve, brainstem and cerebellum. Other systemic or systemic diseases can also cause vertigo. According to different causes, the mechanism of occurrence can be described as follows:

1. Peripheral vertigo (ear vertigo): caused by lesions between the vestibule of the inner ear and the extracranial segment of the vestibular nerve.

① Meniere's disease: It may be caused by lymphatic metabolism disorders, excessive lymphatic secretion or absorption disorders in the inner ear, resulting in water accumulation in the inner ear membranous labyrinth.

② Labyrinthitis: It is mostly caused by middle ear lesions directly destroying the bony wall of the labyrinth. In a few cases, it is caused by the spread of inflammation through the blood or lymph.

③ Inner ear drug poisoning: mostly caused by drug sensitivity, damage to the inner ear vestibule or cochlea.

④ Motion sickness: It is caused by mechanical stimulation of the inner ear labyrinth when riding in a car, boat or airplane, which leads to vestibular dysfunction.

⑤ Vertebral-basilar artery insufficiency: mostly caused by factors such as narrowing of the arterial lumen, intimal inflammation, vertebral artery compression or arterial systolic and diastolic dysfunction.

2. Central vertigo (cerebral vertigo): caused by lesions of the intracranial segment of the vestibular nerve, the vestibular nerve nucleus and its fiber connections, the cerebellum, the cerebrum, etc.

① Intracranial vascular diseases: caused by vertebral-basilar artery insufficiency, lateral medullary syndrome, cerebral atherosclerosis, hypertensive encephalopathy and cerebellar hemorrhage.

② Intracranial space-occupying lesions: caused by acoustic neurofibromas, cerebellar tumors and tumors in other parts of the brain.

③ Intracranial infectious diseases: caused by posterior cranial fossa arachnoiditis, cerebellar abscess, etc.

④ Intracranial demyelinating diseases and degenerative diseases: can be caused by multiple sclerosis and syringobulbar disease.

3. Other causes of vertigo

① Cardiovascular disease: caused by hypotension, hypertension, atrioventricular conduction block, etc.

② Blood disease: caused by anemia, bleeding, etc. due to various reasons.

③Toxicosis: caused by uremia, diabetes, severe liver disease, acute febrile diseases, etc.

④ Ocular: caused by ocular muscle paralysis, refractive error, etc.