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Causes of sudden fainting - methods of help with syncope. Actual causes of fainting in women What does fainting mean

Fainting is caused by a temporary loss of blood supply to the brain and may be a sign of a more serious illness...

Temporary loss of consciousness - fainting

Fainting is a temporary loss of consciousness.

Fainting is caused by a temporary loss of blood supply to the brain and may be a sign of a more serious illness.

People of any age can faint, but older people may have more serious causes.

The most common causes of fainting are vasovagal (a sharp decrease in heart rate and blood pressure) and heart disease.

In most cases, the cause of fainting is unknown.

Fainting can have many different causes:

Vasovagal syncope also known as "general weakness". This is the most common cause of fainting due to an abnormal vascular reflex.

The heart pumps more vigorously, the blood vessels relax, but the heart rate does not compensate fast enough to keep blood flowing to the brain.

Causes of vasovagal syncope:

1) environmental factors (more often when it's hot);

2) emotional factors (stress);

3) physical factors(load);

4) illness (fatigue, dehydration, etc.).

situational syncope only happens in certain situations.

Causes of situational syncope:

1) cough (some people faint with a strong cough);

2) when swallowing (in some people, loss of consciousness is associated with a disease in the throat or esophagus);

3) when urinating (when a susceptible person passes out with a full bladder);

4) hypersensitivity of the carotid sinus (in some people when turning the neck, shaving or wearing a tight collar);

5) Postprandial syncope can occur in older people when their blood pressure drops about an hour after eating.

orthostatic syncope occurs when a person feels fine in a lying position, but when he gets up, he may suddenly faint. Brain blood flow decreases when a person is standing due to a temporary drop in blood pressure.

This syncope sometimes occurs in people who have recently started (or received a replacement for) certain cardiovascular medications.

Orthostatic syncope can be due to the following reasons:

1) low circulating blood volume caused by blood loss (external or internal blood loss), dehydration, or heat exhaustion;

2) impaired circulatory reflexes caused by medication, diseases nervous system or congenital problems. Cardiac syncope occurs when a person loses consciousness due to cardiovascular disease.

Cardiac causes of syncope are usually life-threatening and include the following:

1) anomaly of the heart rhythm - arrhythmia. Electrical problems in the heart impair its pumping ability. This leads to a decrease in blood flow. The heart rate may be too fast or too slow. This condition usually causes fainting without any warning.

2) cardiac obstacles. Blood flow may be obstructed in the blood vessels in the chest. Cardiac obstruction may cause loss of consciousness during physical activity. Various diseases can lead to obstruction (heart attacks, diseased heart valves due to pulmonary embolism, cardiomyopathy, pulmonary hypertension, cardiac and aortic tamponade).

3) heart failure: the pumping ability of the heart is impaired. This reduces the force with which blood circulates in the body, which can reduce blood flow to the brain.

neurological syncope may be associated with neurological conditions.

Its reasons are:

1) a stroke (bleeding in the brain) can cause fainting associated with a headache;

2) transient ischemic attack (or mini-stroke) can cause loss of consciousness. In this case, fainting is usually preceded by double vision, loss of balance, slurred speech, or dizziness;

3) in rare cases, a migraine can cause fainting. Psychogenic fainting. Hyperventilation due to anxiety can lead to fainting. The diagnosis of psychogenic syncope should only be considered after all other causes have been ruled out.

Syncope symptoms

Loss of consciousness is an obvious sign of fainting.

Vasovagal syncope. Before fainting, a person may feel light-headed; blurred vision will be noted. A person can see "spots before the eyes."

The patient has pallor, dilated pupils, and sweating.

During a loss of consciousness, a person may have a low heart rate (less than 60 beats per minute).

The person must quickly regain consciousness. Many people do not have any warning signs before fainting.

Situational fainting. Consciousness returns very quickly when the situation passes.

Orthostatic fainting. Before a fainting episode, a person may notice blood loss (black stools, heavy menstruation) or fluid loss (vomiting, diarrhea, fever). The person may also be delirious. Observers may also note pallor, sweating, or signs of dehydration (dry lips and tongue).

Cardiac fainting. The person may report palpitations, chest pain, or shortness of breath. Observers may note weakness, irregular pulse, pallor, or sweating in the patient. Fainting often occurs without warning or after exertion.

Neurological fainting. A person may have headache, loss of balance, slurred speech, double vision or dizziness (feeling like the room is spinning). Observers note a strong pulse during the unconscious period and normal skin color.

When to seek medical help?

Since fainting can be caused by a severe condition, all episodes of loss of consciousness should be taken seriously.

Any person, even after the first episode of loss of consciousness, should see a doctor as soon as possible.

Depending on what the physical examination reveals, the doctor may require tests to be done.

These tests may include: blood tests; ECG, daily monitoring, echocardiography, functional stress test. Table tilt test. This test tests how your body reacts to changes in position. Tests to detect problems of the nervous system (CT of the head, MRI of the brain or EEG).

If the person next to you has fainted, help him.

Lay it on the ground to minimize the chance of injury.
Stimulate the person actively and call urgently ambulance if the person does not respond.
Check the pulse and start CPR if necessary.
If the person recovers, let him lie down until the ambulance arrives.
Even if the cause of fainting is not dangerous, have the person lie down for 15-20 minutes before getting up.
Ask him about any symptoms such as headache, back pain, chest pain, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, weakness, or loss of function because these may indicate life-threatening causes of fainting.

Syncope treatment

Treatment for fainting depends on the diagnosis.

Vasovagal syncope. Drink plenty of water, increase your salt intake (under medical supervision), and don't stand for long periods of time.

Orthostatic fainting. Change your lifestyle: sit down, flex your calf muscles for a few minutes before getting out of bed. Avoid dehydration.

Elderly people with low blood pressure large meals should be avoided after meals, or plans should be made to lie down for several hours after meals. In most cases, you should stop taking drugs that cause fainting (or replace them).

Cardiac fainting. To treat cardiac syncope, the underlying disease must be treated.

Valvular heart disease often requires surgery, while arrhythmias can be treated with drugs.

Medications and lifestyle changes.

These procedures are designed to optimize the performance of the heart, control of high blood pressure is necessary; in some cases, antiarrhythmic drugs may be prescribed.

Surgery: bypass surgery or angioplasty are used to treat coronary heart disease; in some cases the valves can be replaced. A pacemaker may be implanted to normalize the heart rate (slows the heart for fast arrhythmias or speeds up the heart for slow arrhythmias). Implanted defibrillators are used to manage life-threatening rapid arrhythmias.

Syncope Prevention

Preventive measures depend on the cause and severity of the fainting problem.

Fainting can sometimes be prevented by taking simple precautions.

If you are weak because of the heat, cool the body.
If you faint while standing (after lying down), move slowly while standing. Slowly move into a sitting position and rest for a few minutes. When you are ready, stand up using slow and fluid movements.

In other cases, the causes of fainting may be elusive. That's why see your doctor to determine the cause of fainting.

After determining the cause, treatment of the underlying disease should begin.

Cardiac syncope: due to high risk death from cardiac syncope, people who experience it should be treated for the underlying disease.

Periodic fainting. Consult a doctor to determine the causes of frequent loss of consciousness.

Prognosis due to syncope

The prognosis for a person who has fainted depends largely on the cause, the age of the patient, and the treatments available.

Cardiac syncope has the highest risk sudden death, especially in the elderly.
Syncope that is not associated with cardiac or neurological disease is a more limited risk than in the general population.

Checking the pulse in the neck. The pulse is well felt only near the throat (trachea).

If a pulse is felt, note if it is regular and count the number of beats in 15 seconds.

To determine the heart rate (beats per minute), multiply this number by 4.

The normal heart rate for adults is between 60 and 100 beats per minute.

If you fainted only once, then you don't have to worry about it.

It is important to see a doctor because fainting can have serious causes.

Fainting can be a sign of a serious problem if:

1) It often happens within a short period of time.

2) it happens during exercise or vigorous activity.

3) fainting occurs without warning or in a supine position. In mild syncope, the person often knows that it is about to happen, vomiting or nausea is noted.

4) a person loses a lot of blood. This may include internal bleeding.

5) there is shortness of breath.

6) there is pain in the chest.

7) the person feels that his heart is pounding (palpitations).

8) Fainting occurs along with numbness or tingling in one side of the face or body. published .

If you have any questions, ask them

The materials are for informational purposes only. Remember, self-medication is life-threatening, consult a doctor for advice on the use of any medications and treatments.

P.S. And remember, just by changing your consumption, we are changing the world together! © econet

In both cases, the person falls and loses consciousness, but these are two completely different conditions that require different treatment.

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Etymology

Fainting can be a symptom of any primary disease. There is a large number pathological conditions accompanied by the formation of fainting (here is an incomplete list of diseases that can cause fainting):

diseases accompanied by a decrease in cardiac output - cardiac arrhythmias, stenosis of the aorta or pulmonary arteries, myocardial infarction, angina attacks
conditions accompanied by a violation of the nervous regulation of blood vessels - for example, fainting when swallowing, when quickly rising from a horizontal position
conditions of low oxygen content in the blood - hypoxia and other blood diseases, anemia at altitude in rarefied air or in stuffy rooms

Clinical manifestations

The fainting clinic was first described by Aretaeus from Cappadocia.

Clinical manifestations depend on the type of syncope. Loss of consciousness may be preceded by a state of lightheadedness, nausea, blurred vision or flashing "flies" before the eyes, ringing in the ears. There is weakness, sometimes yawning, sometimes legs give way and there is a feeling of impending loss of consciousness. Patients turn pale, covered with sweat. People with fair skin may have a slight blush on their face. After that, the patient loses consciousness. The skin is ash-gray, the pressure drops sharply, heart sounds are difficult to hear. The pulse can be extremely rare or, on the contrary, frequent, but thready, barely palpable. Muscles are sharply relaxed, neurological reflexes are not detected or are sharply reduced. The pupils are dilated and there is a decrease in their reaction to light. The duration of fainting from a few seconds to several minutes - usually 1-2 minutes. At the height of fainting, especially with its protracted course (more than 5 minutes), the development of convulsive seizures, involuntary urination is possible.

First aid

Since the muscles of the tongue relax in an unconscious person, blockage of the airways can occur. Therefore, it is recommended to provide first aid to the victim before the arrival of doctors: transferring the victim to a recovery position on his side. It is also necessary to call an ambulance, since at the first aid stage it is not possible to determine the cause of the loss of consciousness, for example, to differentially diagnose fainting from a coma.

Treatment

Treatment comes down to:

therapy for the underlying disease
relief of the fainting state

Pediatrics

Fainting as a short-term loss of consciousness is especially characteristic of adolescence and puberty. Girls are more prone to fainting. The average age of fainting is 10-12 years. Fainting is rare in children younger than 5 years of age.

The most common are neurocardiogenic causes, but syncope can be a harbinger of sudden death due to arrhythmia, aortic duct obstruction, and other cardiovascular events. There are the following categories of fainting:

neurocardiogenic (vasovagal syncope)
loss of consciousness due to a sudden drop in cardiac output
loss of consciousness not associated with a sudden drop in cardiac output

Causes of fainting:

loss of consciousness due to a sudden drop in cardiac output
- tachyarrhythmia
  - supraventricular tachycardia
  - ventricular paroxysmal tachycardia
- bradyarrhythmia
  - second or third degree heart block
  - sinus node dysfunction
- left or right ventricular outflow obstruction
- idiopathic hypertension of the pulmonary circulation
- coronary artery disease
  - acquired ischemic heart disease
  - coronary anomaly present at birth
    - intramural coronary artery
    - abnormal origin of a coronary artery
  - Primary cardiac dysfunction
    - non-compacted ventricle syndrome
  - Secondary cardiac dysfunction
    - Viral or idiopathic myocarditis
loss of consciousness not associated with a sudden drop in cardiac output
- neurological (epileptic seizure, atypical hemicrania, autonomic dystonia)
- psychogenic (hysteria, hyperventilation)
- self-induction (hyperventilation)
- metabolic disorders (hypoglycemia, anemia)
- drug exposure

At vasovagal syncope there is a prodromal period, which is characterized by the following symptoms: dizziness, visual disturbances, nausea and sweating. Fainting can occur after a long standing position, also with a sudden transition from a lying or sitting position to a standing position. Another form of CNS-mediated syncope is the situation of syncope during hair care, which is usually observed in girls when combing, drying hair with a hairdryer. Fainting during urination can occur at any age, although it is most common in late adolescence. Fainting during urination usually occurs at night, when the child is in the process of urination after waking up from sleep, when there is a change in position from a lying position to a standing position. Syncope can also occur with affective-respiratory attacks, which is a childhood form of CNS-mediated syncope when the heart slows down. In children with affective-respiratory attacks, syncope often takes the form of CNS-induced syncope.

Loss of consciousness due to a sudden drop in cardiac output usually not preceded by a prodromal period. The main cause of such syncope is arrhythmia and left ventricular outflow obstruction. Patients may complain of palpitations, chest pain, or heaviness. Loss of consciousness due to a sudden drop in cardiac output usually occurs during physical activity and may be accompanied by a complete loss of body tone.

An epileptic seizure has a long return period - the post-seizure period. During this period, witnesses of the seizure may describe the patient's condition as semi-conscious, after which a period of weakness begins.

Clinical examination

Blood pressure should be assessed to determine hypotension and hypovolemia. Cardiac examination should include palpation chest to determine the points of greatest severity, trembling of the chest, and auscultation to determine the intensity of heart sounds, the presence of noise and other adventitious sounds. Blood iron levels on blood tests may be low in patients with CNS-mediated syncope.

Every patient who has fainted should be examined for ECG, atenolol) vagolytic drugs (disopyramide), centrally acting drugs (imipramine, fluoxetine). Anticonvulsants are recommended for patients with neurological syncope.

Update: November 2019

Fainting is an unconscious state that occurs as a result of a sharp oxygen starvation of the brain and is accompanied by inhibition of reflexes and vegetative-vascular disorders. This is a momentary loss of consciousness.

For the first time, fainting was described by the ancient doctor Areteus. The Greek name for fainting (syncope, i.e. cutting) from the shores of Cappadocia (modern Turkey) gradually reached New Orleans, where it merged into the jazz rhythms of Negro orchestras.

Causes of loss of consciousness

The cerebral cortex is extremely sensitive to lack of oxygen. It is the starvation of the cortex that becomes the main cause of fainting. The depth and duration of fainting depends on the severity and duration of oxygen deficiency. Such starvation can develop through several mechanisms:

cerebral ischemia

This is insufficient blood flow through the arteries due to:

embolism, thrombosis, spasm or narrowing of the lumen of the vessels supplying the brain with atherosclerotic plaques
insufficient cardiac output
or venous congestion.

Metabolic disorders

by type) during fasting
insulin overdose
violations of glucose utilization against the background of fermentopathy
there may also be protein metabolism disorders with the accumulation of acetone-like ketone substances that poison brain cells
various poisonings can also be attributed here (see,)

Syncope classification

Depending on the main conditions of occurrence, all fainting is divided into three large groups.

Reflex develop against the background of pain, severe fear, emotional stress, after coughing, sneezing, urination, swallowing, defecation, against the background of pain in the internal organs, during physical exertion.
syncope can be diabetes, amyloidosis, taking antihypertensive drugs, Parkinson's disease, a drop in circulating blood volume, blood retention in the veins.
Cardiogenic associated with diseases of the heart and blood vessels.

Syncope symptoms

The loss of consciousness is immediately preceded by a period of precursors:

nausea, stupidity
sour taste in the mouth
, flashing flies before the eyes, darkness in the eyes
pale skin and mucous membranes

During the period of fainting, the muscles are relaxed, the body is motionless.
The pupils are dilated and do not react to light, the pulse is rare and superficial, breathing is slowed down, reduced arterial pressure.
During a deep syncope, involuntary urination and muscle cramps may develop.

Fainting in healthy people

A perfectly healthy person under certain circumstances can bring himself to fainting.

Starvation

With strict diets, starvation, the brain loses glucose and starts the metabolic pathway of starvation of the cortex. If you start to work intensively on an empty stomach, it is quite possible to get a hungry faint.

Abuse of sweet and simple carbohydrates

If you eat only sweets or tea with honey, then the pancreas releases a portion of insulin into the blood to receive carbohydrates. Since the carbohydrate is simple, it is quickly absorbed and its concentration in the blood is quite large immediately after eating. A portion of insulin will be adequate to this level of sugar in the blood. But then, when all the simple sugar is utilized, the insulin in the blood will still work and, in the absence of sugar, will decompose blood proteins. As a result, ketone bodies will enter the bloodstream, which will work like acetone, causing metabolic disturbances in the cortex and causing fainting.

Injuries

With injuries, you can lose consciousness both from severe pain and against the background of bleeding. Both conditions reflexively cause the centralization of blood circulation with the accumulation of the main mass of blood in the vessels of the abdominal cavity and the impoverishment of cerebral blood flow.

Stuffy room, tight belt or collar

If you stand in clothes with a tight collar and belt for a long time in a stuffy room or transport, you can faint.

fright

With a strong fright, people with a mobile autonomic nervous system may faint. A similar thing can be observed in hysterics, who literally turn off the cortex by the power of thought and imagination.

Other reasons

If you dive into the heat cold water, you can cause a spasm of the vessels of the neck and lose consciousness.
When a person climbs mountains or high altitudes, the partial pressure of oxygen in the blood rises. Oxygen is less utilized by cells. Oxygen starvation may occur.
If you soar in the bath for a long time and concentratedly, you can lose consciousness. A similar condition can be earned with any other heat stroke, for example, solar.
If you get black from inhaling smoke or smoking a lot of cigarettes, you can get metabolic and hypoxic disorders in the cells of the cerebral cortex.
When motion sickness, you can also lose consciousness.
The second stage of alcohol intoxication may include not only sleep, but also fainting. Loss of consciousness after alcohol poisoning is more typical.
More rare causes are playing wind instruments or weightlifting.

Fainting in pregnant women

A pregnant woman should not normally faint. Although in an interesting position, multiple prerequisites are created for the deterioration of cerebral blood flow. The uterus, stretched by the fetus, strongly presses not only on the internal organs, provoking venous congestion, but also on the inferior vena cava, worsening the venous return to the heart and somewhat reducing the portions of blood pushed out by the heart to the brain. Therefore, with a grown belly is not recommended:

lean forward and down
wear tight clothes or underwear
squeezing the neck with collars or scarves
sleep on your back.

Immediately after childbirth, the compression causes of fainting disappear.

In second place in the frequency of fainting causes in pregnant women are anemia (see). During gestation, iron is excessively spent on the growth of the unborn baby and impoverishes the mother's blood with the main oxygen carrier - hemoglobin. After birth bleeding, anemia can not only persist, but also increase. Therefore, it is so important to correct low hemoglobin and red blood cells during pregnancy, reduce blood loss during childbirth, and treat postpartum anemia (see).

Fainting in a woman

Gentle ladies and young ladies of past centuries considered it good form to get away from all sorts of everyday difficulties and delicate situations with the help of a banal swoon. This passage was facilitated by tight corsets, squeezing the ribs and making breathing difficult, dietary restrictions leading to anemia and a mobile psyche, loosened by reading French novels. Nekrasov's and Leskov's characters of peasant and petty-bourgeois origin suffered from fainting much less often, and did not know hysterical loss of consciousness at all.

Today, women most often faint in full health on the background of menstrual bleeding. This happens for the following reasons:

neglect of taking iron-containing drugs on critical days that prevent the development of acute post-hemorrhagic anemia against the background of heavy periods,
the presence of untreated gynecological or hormonal problems, leading to a violation of the contractility of the uterus and provoking menstrual pain, easily stopped by indomethacin.

Fainting in diseases

Vascular diseases

Atherosclerosis, stenosis of the vessels of the neck and brain lead to chronic disorders cerebral circulation, in which, along with impaired memory, sleep and hearing, periodic syncopations of varying duration can be observed.

Traumatic brain injury

Head injuries (concussions, bruises of the brain) are accompanied by loss of consciousness of different depths. Fainting itself is a criterion by which an express diagnosis of a concussion is carried out.

Shock

Shock (painful, infectious-toxic) is often accompanied by impaired consciousness. In case of injury or illness internal organs pain or toxins trigger a reflex chain of vascular reactions leading to depression of the cerebral cortex.

Cardiac pathologies

Defects of the heart and large vessels provoke an insufficient release of blood into big circle blood circulation and malnutrition of the brain. Acute myocardial infarction is often complicated by loss of consciousness due to a sharp drop in cardiac contractility. Also, severe rhythm disturbances go to syncope: weakness syndrome sinus node, atrial fibrillation, ventricular fibrillation, transverse heart block and frequent extrasystoles. A typical rhythm disturbance, in which there are bouts of loss of consciousness, is the Morgagni-Adams-Stokes syndrome.

Pulmonary pathologies

For example, bronchial asthma, lead to violations of gas exchange between the lungs and tissues. As a result, oxygen does not get enough to the brain. Also, loss of consciousness is accompanied by pulmonary embolism and pulmonary hypertension.

Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus leads to loss of consciousness due to hypoglycemia and ketoacidosis, which can quickly develop into a coma. Therefore, it is so important to observe the regimen and dose of hypoglycemic drugs.

Diseases accompanied by irritation of the reflex zones of the vagus nerve

This peptic ulcer stomach and duodenum, pancreatitis, especially destructive pancreatitis cause over-irritation vagus nerve which also innervates the heart. As a result, the conditions of blood supply to the cerebral cortex worsen.

Other reasons

A sharp decrease in the volume of circulating blood against the background of bleeding, vomiting or diarrhea does not make it possible to adequately supply the brain with oxygen.
Vegetative-vascular dystonia does not allow the vessels to timely and adequately adjust the lumen to the requirements of a changing external environment. The result is extremely frequent fainting against the background of sudden pressure surges.
Poisoning by neurotoxic snake venoms, alcohol and its surrogates, organophosphorus compounds also lead to fainting.
Loss of consciousness can be side effect neuroleptics, antihypertensives, ganglion blockers, tranquilizers, isoniazid derivatives.
Fainting can be the result of uremia in renal failure.
Hypersensitivity of carotid sinus baroreceptors can lead to syncope.

Fainting in children

Children suffer from fainting for the same reasons as adults. Since the adaptive capabilities of the child's body are weak, every fainting in a child is an occasion to be examined by a pediatrician and a neurologist. For quite harmless short-term loss of consciousness in a child, terrible diseases of the nervous system or blood can be hidden.

Fainting in a teenager

This is often the result of rapid growth. Girls are more likely to suffer from latent anemia and vegetative dystonia, young people from dysplasia connective tissue hearts. For example, such a mild defect as prolapse mitral valve, which thin tall young men most often suffer from, almost the only vivid manifestation is blackout in the eyes or loss of consciousness when standing up abruptly.

How is fainting different from loss of consciousness?

Acute thrombosis, embolism or rupture of vessels become the causes of ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, which may begin with loss of consciousness. In this case, the loss of consciousness is longer and deeper than fainting. She could easily go into a coma.

Epilepsy, accompanied by impaired consciousness (for example, atonic seizures) is also not exactly fainting. At the heart of epileptic seizures is a violation of the excitation of the nerve cells of the cortex. Which trigger an imbalance of excitation and inhibition, secondarily causing metabolic disorders in neurocytes.

In any case, fainting and loss of consciousness is a reason for emergency care and subsequent referral to a doctor.

Help with fainting

The fainted person should be laid on a flat surface with legs raised above the level of the body, eliminating, if possible, the cause of the loss of consciousness (remove from a direct source of heat, unfasten the tight belt and collar, free the neck from unnecessary objects).
Provide fresh air supply.
Let the vapors of ammonia be inhaled.
Put a towel moistened with cold water on your forehead and temples.

First aid for loss of consciousness

If the activities carried out with ordinary fainting are ineffective in the first two minutes, you should immediately call an ambulance team that can provide specialized assistance and take the patient to a hospital for treatment and clarify the causes of loss of consciousness.

In any case, fainting and loss of consciousness is a reason for emergency care and subsequent referral to a doctor.

The condition under consideration is often a consequence of a pathological process occurring in the body or is a symptom of a certain primary ailment. Allocate a huge number of abnormal conditions, which are accompanied by loss of consciousness. These include: ailments accompanied by a decrease in cardiac output (cardiac arrhythmia, angina pectoris, aortic stenosis), defects in the nervous regulation of capillaries (for example, loss of consciousness may occur with a rapid change in the position of the body), hypoxia.

Dizziness, fainting are the result of a decrease in blood pressure, when the human body could not quickly adapt to changes in hemodynamics (passage of blood through the capillaries). In a number of ailments, in which anomalies of the heart rhythm are noted, the myocardium, with a decrease in pressure indicators, is not always able to cope with a sharply increased load and quickly increase blood output.

The cause of fainting is the expansion of the vessels of the muscles, due to physical exertion. Capillaries, remaining expanded for a certain time after the end of physical effort, contain a lot of blood required to remove metabolic products from muscle tissues. At the same time, the pulse rate drops, therefore, the volume of blood released by the myocardium with each contraction decreases. This causes a decrease in blood pressure, causing loss of consciousness.

In addition, fainting is often caused by an acute decrease in the amount of circulating blood, which occurs with blood loss or dehydration (for example, with diarrhea, profuse urination, or sweating).

Nerve impulses that affect compensatory processes and are the result of various algias or vivid emotional upheavals also often give rise to fainting.

Loss of consciousness is possible during the course of some physiological processes, such as: urination, coughing. This occurs due to tension, provoking a decrease in the amount of blood leaving the myocardium. With certain pathologies of the esophagus, fainting sometimes occurs when swallowing food.

Hyperventilation of the lungs in conjunction with anemia, a decrease in carbon dioxide or blood sugar levels also often provoke the onset of fainting.

Quite rarely, more often in people of the age category, microstrokes can be manifested by loss of consciousness due to a sharp decrease in blood supply in a separate segment of the brain.

Temporary loss of consciousness may be associated with cardiac pathologies, but often it is due to factors not directly related to the anomalies of this organ. These factors include dehydration, vascular disorders in the extremities in the elderly, pharmacopoeial agents that affect blood pressure, Parkinson's disease, and diabetes.

A drop in the total amount of blood or a poor condition of the capillaries of the extremities causes a disproportionate distribution of blood in the legs and a limited supply of blood to the brain when the individual assumes a standing position. Other causes of transient loss of consciousness, not due to cardiac pathology, include fainting after a series of situational events (coughing, urination, defecation) or due to outflow of blood.

The condition under consideration occurs due to a stereotypical reaction of the nervous system, leading to a slowdown in the heart rate and expansion of capillaries in the lower extremities, which causes a decrease in pressure. The consequence of such a reaction of the body is the entry of a smaller volume of blood (respectively, oxygen) into the structures of the brain, since it is concentrated in the limbs.

Cerebral hemorrhages, pre-stroke or migraine-like states, also often cause transient loss of consciousness.

Among the factors caused by cardiac pathologies, the following ailments can be distinguished: heart rhythm abnormality (heartbeat may be too fast or too slow), heart valve dysfunction ( aortic stenosis), high pressure in the blood capillaries (arteries) supplying the lungs with blood, aortic dissection, cardiomyopathy.

It is also necessary to distinguish between fainting states generated by non-epileptic and epileptic nature. The first - develops due to the above reasons. The second - occurs in persons suffering from epileptic seizures. Its appearance is due to a combination of intracerebral factors, namely the activity of the epileptogenic focus and convulsive activity.

Syncope symptoms

An attack of loss of consciousness is usually preceded by a feeling of nausea, nausea. There may also be a veil or goosebumps before the eyes, ringing in the ears. Usually, fainting has certain harbingers, which include sudden weakness, yawning, a feeling of impending fainting. In people suffering from certain ailments, the legs may give way before losing consciousness.

Characteristic features fainting are as follows: cold perspiration, pallor of the skin or a slight blush. The pupils are dilated during loss of consciousness. They react slowly to light. The dermis after loss of consciousness becomes ash-gray in color, the pulse is characterized by weak filling, the heart rate may increase or decrease, muscle tone is reduced, reflex reactions are weak or completely absent.

The symptoms of fainting last on average from two seconds to a minute. If the syncope lasts more than four to five minutes, convulsions often occur, sweating is increased, or spontaneous urination may occur.

When fainting, consciousness often turns off suddenly. However, sometimes it may be preceded by a fainting state, which is manifested by the following symptoms: the presence of tinnitus, acute weakness, yawning, dizziness, a feeling of "vacuum" in the head, numbness of the limbs, nausea, sweating, darkening of the eyes, pallor of the epidermis of the face.

Fainting is most often noted in a standing position, less often in a sitting position. When the individual moves to the prone position, usually pass.

Upon recovery from an attack, some individuals (mainly with prolonged fainting) may experience a post-fainting state for two hours, which is found in weakness, headaches, and increased sweating.

Thus, an attack of syncope can be divided into three phases: pre-syncope, or lipothymia, fainting directly and post-syncope (post-syncopal stage).

Lipothymia occurs twenty to thirty seconds before the loss of consciousness (most often it lasts from four to twenty seconds to one and a half minutes). In this state, the individual feels lightheadedness, extraneous sounds in the ears, dizziness, "fog" in the eyes.

Weakness appears, characterized by an increase in manifestations. Legs - as if wadded, naughty. The face turns pale, and the epidermis is covered with icy sweat. Individuals may experience, along with the described symptoms, numbness of the tongue, fingertips, yawning, fear or anxiety, lack of air, a lump in the throat.

Quite often the attack can be limited only to the described manifestations. In other words, there will be no direct loss of consciousness, especially if the person has time to take a lying position. Less commonly, syncope may occur without prior lipothymia (eg, syncope that occurs against a background of cardiac arrhythmias). The phase under consideration ends with the sensation of the soil leaving from under the feet.

The next phase is characterized directly by the loss of consciousness. In parallel with the loss of consciousness, the tone of the muscles of the whole body weakens. Therefore, when people faint, they more often settle on the floor, gently “slide” to the surface, and do not fall like mowed down, like tin soldiers. If fainting occurs unexpectedly, then there is a high probability of bruising due to a fall.

During the absence of consciousness, the epidermis becomes pale gray, ashy, often greenish, cold to the touch, blood pressure decreases, breathing becomes shallow, the pulse is hard to feel, thready, all stereotypical reactions (reflexes) decrease, the pupils are dilated, there is a weak reaction to light (pupils do not constrict).

The post-syncopal phase lasts a few seconds and ends with a complete recovery of consciousness, which returns gradually. At first, the visual function “turns on”, then the auditory function (the voices of others are heard, sounding in the distance), there is a feeling of one’s own body. It takes only a few seconds for the described sensations, but the person notes them, as if in slow motion.

After the return of consciousness, people are immediately able to navigate in their own personality, space and time. In this case, naturally, the first reaction to a fainting event will be fright, accelerated heartbeat, rapid breathing, a feeling of weakness, fatigue, less often, unpleasant sensations are observed in the epigastrium. The individual does not remember the second phase of fainting. The last memory of a person about a sudden deterioration in well-being.

The severity of fainting is determined based on the severity of dysfunctions of vital organs and the duration of the phase of loss of consciousness.

Fainting often occurs suddenly, but sometimes visible changes in the body occur already shortly before the loss of consciousness. If you notice this in time and take the right measures, then the occurrence of this condition can be avoided.

Pre-fainting is characterized by a number of symptoms:

increased sweating;
a feeling of nausea;
dizziness;
blanching of the skin;
a feeling of darkening in the eyes;
sharp and strong weakness;
tinnitus;
frequent yawning;
numbness of hands and feet.

After fainting, confusion is observed in most cases, but this is a short-term phenomenon. Fainting is not accompanied by cessation of breathing or palpitations, involuntary urination, defecation and vomiting.

During fainting, the following changes occur:

cold hands and feet;
slow heart rate;
pupils are well sensitive to light, but can be narrowed or, conversely, expanded;
pressure reduction;
blanching of the skin;
breathing becomes shallow and rarer than in ordinary life;
sometimes there is increased salivation or dry mouth.

The duration of fainting can be a few seconds, but not more than 2-3 minutes. Lying down will improve the blood supply to the brain and help a person get out of this state as quickly as possible.

During the period of fainting, the muscles are relaxed, the body is motionless.
The pupils are dilated and do not react to light, the pulse is rare and superficial, breathing is slowed down, blood pressure is reduced.
During a deep syncope, involuntary urination and muscle cramps may develop.

Syncope classification

Depending on the main conditions of occurrence, all fainting is divided into three large groups.

Reflex develop against the background of pain, severe fear, emotional stress, after coughing, sneezing, urination, swallowing, defecation, against the background of pain in the internal organs, during physical exertion.
syncope can be with diabetes mellitus, amyloidosis, taking antihypertensive drugs, Parkinson's disease, a decrease in circulating blood volume, blood retention in the veins.
Cardiogenic associated with diseases of the heart and blood vessels.

Fainting in children

Most mothers would like to understand why children faint, what to do if their baby has fainted. The causes of fainting in children are usually severe pain, hunger, various emotional upheavals, prolonged stay in a stuffy room, especially in a standing position, infectious diseases, blood loss, rapid deep breathing.

Fainting can also be observed in babies suffering from disorders in the functioning of the ganglionic nervous system. Children with low blood pressure often lose consciousness when moving quickly to an upright position from lying down. In addition, brain injury can cause fainting.

Some heart ailments also provoke loss of consciousness. Complete blockade anatomical structures heart (myocardial conduction system), atrioventricular blockade (Morgagni-Adams-Stokes syndrome) are clinically manifested by fainting attacks and convulsive seizures, which are accompanied by cyanosis of the skin or pallor. More often the attack is noted at night. This condition goes away on its own.

Assistance with fainting in a child does not require specific skills or special knowledge. In the first turn, the baby should be laid down, the pillow removed and the foot end of the bed raised by about thirty degrees. This position promotes blood flow towards the brain. Then it is necessary to ensure the flow of air (to save the baby from tight clothing, open the window, unbutton the top button).

After the baby regains consciousness, it should not be raised for about ten to twenty minutes. Then you can drink sweet tea to the baby.

From the above it can be seen that help with fainting, first of all, is to improve hemodynamics, which quickly eliminates the symptoms of fainting.

Fainting during pregnancy

The happiest time in the life of girls is the period of pregnancy. But in addition to positive emotions, expectant mothers face a number of minor troubles, among which dizziness and loss of consciousness can be distinguished.

Many women, before deciding to have a baby, are interested in various details related to bearing a fetus. Therefore, the question of why expectant mothers faint is quite popular among women planning a pregnancy.

Usually, fainting during pregnancy is a consequence of low blood pressure. A drop in blood pressure is often caused by overwork, stuffiness, hunger, emotional instability, various respiratory ailments, or exacerbations of chronic pathologies.

During the growth of the fetus, the enlarged uterus puts pressure on the capillaries located nearby, which disrupts normal hemodynamics. The vessels of the extremities, pelvis and back do not pass blood well, especially in the supine position. As a result, the pressure may drop.

Also, during pregnancy, the body of expectant mothers undergoes a lot of different changes in physiology. One of the physiological transformations is an increase in the amount of circulating blood by about thirty-five percent. Bye female body does not adapt to changes, fainting may be observed.

Anemia is a common cause of syncope in pregnant women, since the amount of blood increases only due to an increase in plasma volume. As a result, the blood becomes more rarefied, since the number of red blood cells in it is reduced. This causes a decrease in hemoglobin levels, hence anemia.

Also, expectant mothers can lose consciousness from a decrease in glucose levels. Due to toxicosis, women can often eat irregularly or incompletely. Improper diet causes a decrease in blood concentration, which gives rise to fainting.

Hungry swoon

The loss of consciousness caused by hunger is considered relevant for the beautiful part of humanity. After all, it is these cute creatures, in constant attempts to become the most attractive and charming, that exhaust their own body with endless diets, hunger strikes, which causes negative consequences, among which one should highlight movement coordination disorders, brain injuries, changes in character traits, memory, and various bruises.

As the name implies, a hungry faint is a consequence of the lack of essential nutrients supplied with food to the body. However, this kind of fainting does not happen only due to a lack of food.

So, for example, eating exclusively proteins or only carbohydrates (dairy diet) can also provoke a loss of consciousness. Failure to comply with the desired ratio of organic substances causes a lack of development of the necessary energy reserve. As a result, the body has to look for internal reserves, which leads to a change in metabolism.

Stress during a normal diet can also provoke a hungry faint. Since any stress requires excessive energy costs and is accompanied by an increase in blood pressure. If there are not enough resources, the so-called shutdown of “unimportant” objects occurs in the body - the blood flow to the digestive organs decreases to provide the brain, myocardium and lungs with the necessary amount of nutrition. With a lack of such nutrition, the brain turns off, which causes a hungry faint.

Excessive physical exertion also requires an excess of vital nutrients. If an adequate ratio of organic compounds is not observed in the daily diet, or a low concentration of carbohydrates in the foods consumed, there is a mismatch between the body's capabilities and its needs. Again, the brain is the first to suffer from this, which provokes a loss of consciousness.

Assistance with fainting, provoked by hunger, does not differ from measures for other types of fainting.

Fainting in pregnant women

lean forward and down
wear tight clothes or underwear
squeezing the neck with collars or scarves
sleep on your back.

Immediately after childbirth, the compression causes of fainting disappear.

In second place in the frequency of fainting causes in pregnant women are anemia (see pregnancy and low hemoglobin). During gestation, iron is excessively spent on the growth of the unborn baby and impoverishes the mother's blood with the main oxygen carrier - hemoglobin. After birth bleeding, anemia can not only persist, but also increase.

Syncope treatment

In case of loss of consciousness, therapeutic measures are associated with the cause that provoked it. This is why proper diagnosis is so important.

Emergency care for fainting, in the first turn, involves the restoration of hemodynamics by giving the body a horizontal position. In this case, the foot end must be raised.

Some types of fainting conditions do not require specific treatment, such as extreme fainting (it is only necessary to eliminate the situation that caused such a condition).

Somatogenic syncope involves the treatment of the underlying ailment. So, for example, when detecting cardiac arrhythmia, it is necessary to use antiarrhythmic drugs to normalize the rhythm.

In the treatment of loss of consciousness caused by neurogenic factors, pharmacopoeial preparations and non-drug measures (physical measures) are used. In this case, preference is given to the latter. Patients are taught to avoid situations that can provoke neurogenic syncope, as well as to take timely measures to prevent loss of consciousness when feeling the precursors of syncope.

Physical actions include the following. With an approaching fainting state, patients are advised to cross lower limbs and clench your hands into fists. The essence of the described actions is to provoke an increase in blood pressure sufficient to prevent loss of consciousness or delay it in order to enable the patient to take a safe horizontal position. Individuals suffering from persistent orthostatic syncope benefit from regular orthostatic exercise.

Therapy of reflex syncope should be aimed at improving the physical condition, reducing the excitability of a person, correcting autonomic dysfunctions and vascular disorders. It is important to adhere to the regimen and perform daily hygienic gymnastic exercises in the morning.

Fainting in a woman

Today, women most often faint in full health on the background of menstrual bleeding. This happens for the following reasons:

neglect of taking iron-containing drugs on critical days that prevent the development of acute post-hemorrhagic anemia against the background of heavy periods,
the presence of untreated gynecological or hormonal problems, leading to a violation of the contractility of the uterus and provoking menstrual pain, easily stopped by indomethacin.

Fainting in diseases

Fainting due to a specific situation or a combination of several circumstances occurs quite often.

Therefore, it is so important after a faint to try to find out the cause of its appearance and analyze the circumstances that led to it.

Weakness in specific parts of the body and the presence of additional symptoms with fainting are common signs of stroke and transient ischemic attack. Unequal pressure on different arms can be a symptom of aortic dissection, and a violation of the heartbeat and pulse detection before the onset of fainting signals a pathology of the heart valve. Disorders of the nervous system can also cause this condition and are characterized by dysmotility before and after it.

With absolutely any suspicion of fainting due to some kind of disease, you should immediately consult a doctor, and if necessary resort to hospitalization for a detailed examination.

After all, it is the symptoms of pre-syncope and post-syncope that are best able to answer many questions that will help establish the disease and prescribe it. proper treatment. Also remember that fainting can be caused by severe blood loss, and internal bleeding is not visible to the naked eye, can last for some time and be very life-threatening.

Do not ignore any instances of fainting. If external factors or their combination played a role, then we should try to avoid such situations in the future.

Often we become witnesses of how a person suddenly falls unconscious. How to act in this situation and what caused it? We will talk about this further. Be sure to consider the difference between fainting and loss of consciousness. What should be the emergency assistance to a person?

What is fainting?

Fainting is not a disease. It can be a symptom of some disease, and even then not always. This is just a sudden loss of consciousness as a result of reduced blood flow to the head. Consciousness is restored at the same time spontaneously.

Fainting can be:

Epileptic.
Non-epileptic.

After an epileptic, a very long period of return of the victim to a normal state.

Non-epileptic syncope includes:

Convulsive. Muscle twitching joins the usual fainting.
Simple fainting.
Lipotomy. Mild fainting.
arrhythmic form. It happens with some types of arrhythmias.
Orthostatic fainting. With a sharp change from horizontal to vertical.
Bettolepsy. Fainting occurring during chronic disease lungs.
Drop attacks. Very unexpected falls, while the person may not lose consciousness.
Vasodepressor syncope. It happens in childhood.

Syncope symptoms

Fainting can happen unexpectedly. But sometimes before this there is a pre-fainting state.

The first symptoms are:

Unexpected weakness.
Darkening in the eyes.
There is noise in the ears.
Pallor.
Sweating increases.
Numb limbs.
May be bothered by nausea.
Yawn.

Fainting - a short-term loss of consciousness - most often happens to a person at the moment when he is standing. In a sitting position, this happens much less often. And, as a rule, when the position of the body changes, the symptoms of fainting disappear.

Fainting is most often accompanied by symptoms of vegetative-vascular disorders. Namely:

The face turns pale.
Cold limbs.
Sweating increases.
There is a weak pulse.
The blood pressure drops a lot.
Breathing is weak, shallow.
In this case, the pupils react to light and tendon reflexes are preserved.

In this state, a person can be from a few seconds to 2-5 minutes. Prolonged exposure to fainting can cause increased salivation or convulsive twitching of the muscles, limbs, and facial muscles.

Factors that cause fainting

The causes of fainting and loss of consciousness are very similar:

Sometimes fainting can smoothly flow into loss of consciousness. What is it, we will consider further.

What happens when you lose consciousness

The person suddenly falls and does not respond to external stimuli, such as:

Light slaps.
Loud voices.
Cold or warm.
Claps.
Chips.
Pain.

This condition is the result of a dysfunction of the nervous system. If a person is unconscious for a sufficiently long time, then this is already considered a coma.

Loss of consciousness is divided into:

Short-term. Lasts from 2 seconds to 2-3 minutes. In such cases, no special medical attention is required.
Persistent. This condition can have serious consequences for the body. And if you do not provide the necessary medical care, this may pose a threat to the life and health of the victim.

Manifestations of loss of consciousness are very similar to fainting.

Causes of loss of consciousness

There are several reasons that lead to loss of consciousness:

Insufficient blood supply to the brain.
Lack of nutrition for the brain.
Insufficient oxygen content in the blood.
Problems in the work of the cardiovascular system. Heart rhythm disorder, heart attack.
Atherosclerotic plaques inside the vessels of the brain.
The presence of thrombi.
Quite a long time low blood pressure.
Sudden change in body position. For example, if you suddenly stand up from a sitting position.
shock states:

Anaphylactic.
Allergic.
infectious shock.

10. Complications of serious diseases.

11. Anemia.

12. Pubertal stage of development.

13. Poisoning with oxygen oxide.

14. Head injury.

15. Epilepsy.

16. Stroke.

17. Sharp pain.

18. Nervous tension, lack of sleep, overwork.

The causes of fainting and loss of consciousness in men and women are different.

Women experience loss of consciousness internal bleeding, with gynecological diseases, if the pregnancy proceeds with pathologies, there is excessive emotionality or a too strict diet is observed.

In men, alcohol poisoning and heavy physical exertion more often provoke loss of consciousness.

Fainting and loss of consciousness: what's the difference?

They differ from each other in terms of possible consequences. So, with fainting, the cause is a decrease in the volume of blood flowing to the brain, which is accompanied by a sharp drop in blood pressure.

If there is a loss of consciousness for more than 5 minutes, serious damage to the brain tissue can occur, which will affect the person's life. The causes of such conditions can be heart disease, epilepsy, stroke.

These two states differ in their duration. So, fainting lasts most often a few seconds, but not more than 5 minutes. Loss of consciousness is considered to be more than 5 minutes.

Above, we examined the reasons for fainting and loss of consciousness. What is the difference and how the recovery goes, we will study further.

After fainting, all reflex, physiological and neurological reactions are quickly restored.

After loss of consciousness, the recovery of the above reactions is very slow or they are not restored at all. It depends on the time the person has spent in an unconscious state. The longer it takes, the harder it is to recover. It will also be affected by the disease itself, that is, the cause of the loss of consciousness.

When a person faints, as a rule, there is no memory loss, as well as any changes during the ECG.

After a person wakes up, he may not remember what happened, and also, most likely, changes on the ECG will be visible.

Causes of deep fainting

A few words about deep fainting. This is a sudden loss of consciousness. The lack of blood flow to the brain contributes to poor metabolism and the supply of oxygen and glucose.

The reasons for this condition may be the following:

Decrease in blood flow to the brain can be the result of such diseases:

Arrhythmia.
Heart failure.
Violation of cardiac function during physical exertion.

2. Insufficient supply of oxygen to the brain, or hypoxia. May occur in severe upper respiratory tract infections.

3. A sharp drop in blood glucose levels.

Deep syncope with loss of consciousness is a great danger, as it can lead to oxidation of the brain.

If this happens, you should immediately consult a doctor and conduct a complete examination of the body.

Diagnosis after loss of consciousness or fainting

After first aid was provided for fainting and loss of consciousness, and the person came to his senses, it is necessary to analyze the symptoms that may appear.

It is worth paying attention to:

Many dangers can be fraught with fainting and loss of consciousness. What is the difference in developing consequences depends on many factors and the presence of certain diseases in the body. For example:

Fainting in diabetes mellitus, caused by a sharp decrease in blood sugar, can go into a coma.
In case of carbon monoxide poisoning, the victim loses consciousness, brain hypoxia sets in, and myocardial muscle contraction is inhibited.
Loss of consciousness after or during exercise is a signal of a serious cardiac pathology.
A high probability of cardiac pathologies is in older people during loss of consciousness.
Serious heart diseases are signaled by interruptions in his work and before fainting exceed 5 seconds.
With loss of consciousness, convulsions that appear may indicate not only epilepsy, but also cerebral ischemia caused by heart disease.
If a person has cardiovascular pathologies, then loss of consciousness should be considered as a very serious symptom.
If the patient has had a heart attack and has angina pectoris, cardiomegaly, and symptoms of insufficient blood supply, fainting can be fatal.

With a short-term loss of consciousness, fainting, it is necessary to undergo examinations to clarify the cause of this condition. What - we will consider further:

To exclude vegetovascular dystonia, a consultation with a neurologist is necessary.
Consultation with a therapist is needed to exclude hypotension or to prescribe therapy for hypertension.
Ultrasound, ECG, heart holter for finding cardiac pathologies.
Ultrasound, dopplerography for the study of cerebral vessels to detect pathologies.

If there was a loss of consciousness, then the following examinations will be needed:

Blood test to determine the amount of hemoglobin and red blood cells.
An x-ray is required to examine the lungs.
Get tested for allergens and visit an allergist if allergic asthma is suspected.
Undergo spirography to assess external respiration.

It is worth noting that if fainting occurs in a patient under 40 years of age and there are no anomalies on the cardiogram, then it is necessary to look for the cause along the neurological line. If after 40 there are no signs of damage on the cardiogram of the heart, it is still necessary to start with a complete examination of it.

Consequences of fainting and loss of consciousness

Such changes in health status cannot be ignored.

For a person, fainting and loss of consciousness can have different consequences. The differences are that fainting in a mild form can pass without a trace, and loss of consciousness can be dangerous symptom any disease and pose a danger to life.

But in any case, it is advisable to consult a doctor after the incident. So, when fainting, there is a great danger of falling tongue, which can block the airways and the person will die from suffocation. With a traumatic brain injury, loss of consciousness is a risk of developing severe dangerous complications, as well as the risk of coma and death.

In case of loss of consciousness or fainting, metabolic disturbances occur in the brain tissue. This can affect the work of the brain, namely, memory worsens, psychological disorders may occur, and attention will decrease. And of course, it can affect the work of all internal organs. The longer the unconscious state, the more dangerous for life, since irreversible processes in the brain tissues can occur. Therefore, first aid should be provided in a timely manner in case of fainting and loss of consciousness. More on this later.

Assistance to the injured

Consider what first aid is in a condition such as fainting and loss of consciousness: what is the difference is difficult to answer. Assistance is provided in both cases in almost the same way.

As we described earlier, before fainting, a person experiences the first symptoms, that is, he has a pre-syncope state:

Sharp weakness.
The face turns pale.
Pupils dilate.
Perspiration appears.

At this point, if you notice these signs, you need to help the person. What should be done:

Find a place to move the person to a sitting position.
Lower your head below your knees.

With these actions, we will improve the blood flow to the head and prevent fainting, as we will eliminate its cause.

What should be the actions in case of fainting, loss of consciousness:

You need to check for a pulse carotid artery and pupillary response to light.
Lay the victim in a horizontal position, while the legs should be raised above the level of the head. This action ensures blood flow to the head.
If a person has been vomiting, it is necessary to lay him on his side.
Clear the mouth of vomit and prevent the tongue from sinking into the throat.
Loosen or loosen tight clothing.
Provide good air access.

If this is a simple fainting, then these actions are enough for the person to come to his senses. If this was not enough, it is necessary to start resuscitation measures.

It is necessary to make an external influence on the brain in order to start the whole system. For this, as a rule, use:

Ammonia.
Cold water. She can splash her face.
Light pats on the cheeks.

2. If none of the above measures helped, you should call a doctor.

3. If there is no pulse and breathing, it is urgent to start artificial respiration and indirect massage heart and continue until the ambulance arrives.

After a person comes to his senses, he cannot immediately get up, since the blood supply has not yet been fully restored. There is a danger that fainting will recur. At this point, it is important to talk with the victim, gradually bringing him to his senses, while controlling his condition. What should be paid attention to, we considered earlier.

Prolonged oxygen starvation of the brain will cause irreversible changes in the functioning of the whole organism and can lead to death.

We examined such serious conditions as fainting and loss of consciousness, how they differ from each other, and also tried to explain. Everyone should not only know about this, but also be able to apply their knowledge in an unexpected situation.

Preventive actions

First of all, if you feel that you may pass out, or if this has already happened to you, you must avoid such situations. Namely:

Accept in a timely manner medications if there are chronic diseases.
Do not stay in stuffy rooms.
Do not bring yourself to excessive fatigue.
Learn to control yourself in stressful situations.
Don't go on strict diets.
It is also not recommended to get out of bed abruptly.
Avoid overworking in the gym.
Remember that feeling hungry can also lead to loss of consciousness.

As a prevention of fainting and loss of consciousness, it is recommended to observe the regime of work and rest, exercise moderately, carry out hardening procedures, and eat rationally and in a timely manner. If there are chronic pathologies, then it is necessary to regularly visit a specialist and undergo therapy for ailments.