Everything you need to know about syncopation
However, in cases of orthostatic hypotension, this does not happen, which leads to brain blood flow being cut off, causing you to feel weak.
Complete but temporary loss of consciousness is called syncope. A person with syncope suddenly loses consciousness and falls to the ground.
Syncope or fainting is a state of semi-anesthesia and milder than shock. In this case, the person has a short-term loss of awareness of his surroundings. It is caused by not enough blood reaching the brain in the short term.
In syncope, the heart and lungs are active.
The duration of syncope is from a few seconds to a few minutes, and the patient regains consciousness by himself.
Before syncope, a person may experience dizziness, cold sweat, or nausea and vomiting, or syncope may occur completely suddenly without any prior feeling.
After regaining consciousness, the person is usually alert and without symptoms (except in case of injury caused by a fall).
The causes of syncope include emotional shock such as seeing terrible sights, hearing bad news, standing for a long time with crowds and extreme fatigue, heat and lack of fresh air.
Signs and symptoms of syncope include: paleness, coldness, profuse sweating of the skin, weak pulse, shallow and rapid breathing, and dilated pupils.
Types of syncope
Despite the fact that syncope is a strange and scary event for a person, in fact, about a third of people will faint at least once in their lifetime.
Although in most cases, syncope is caused by non-cardiac and benign causes, however, in some cases, it is due to heart disease, and in these cases, malignant cardiac arrhythmias may be the cause of syncope and sudden cardiac death.
Another point is to separate cases such as convulsions or mental issues from syncope, which can be easily done with a detailed history taken by the doctor.
Non-cardiac syncope
This type of syncope is benign and usually seen in young and healthy people. Different types of diseases lead to non-cardiac syncope, which are often not considered a major health risk (unless injured during a fall).
The most common non-cardiac syncope commonly seen in young people is called vasovagal syncope. In patients with this type of syncope, standing for a long time, mental stress and emotions, and sometimes stimuli such as seeing blood, urinating, or defecating paradoxically cause a decrease in heart rate and a drop in blood pressure, resulting in syncope.
If the recurrence of attacks is few, usually no special treatment is needed other than advice to avoid the causative agents.
In cases where there are frequent attacks, drug treatment and the use of varicose stockings may be required. In rare cases where there are severe and persistent symptoms, it may be necessary to implant a pacemaker (heart rate regulating device) based on the doctor’s opinion. The side image shows the post maker device.
One of the common causes of syncope in the elderly, diabetics and people with high blood pressure who are under medical treatment is orthostatic hypotension.
Standing up suddenly from a sitting or lying position in these people due to autonomic nerve disorder and blood accumulation in the lower limbs leads to a drop in blood pressure and sometimes syncope.
Avoiding sudden changes in body position or, if necessary, stopping some medications is usually enough to resolve this type of syncope.
Another cause of syncope, especially in the elderly, is sensitive carotid syndrome. The nerve network in the carotid artery in these patients is sensitive to pressure, and creating a brief pressure in this area (by turning the head or tying the collar tightly) leads to nerve stimulation, blood pressure drop, heart rate decrease, and syncope occurs.
Diagnosis of this disease is easily done by carotid artery massage by a doctor and simultaneous control of heart rate and blood pressure.
It is necessary to avoid the causative factors. However, in many cases, it is necessary to install a pacemaker to prevent syncope attacks.
Sometimes slow heart rate (bradycardia) leads to syncope attacks in severe cases. In these cases, implanting a pacemaker is enough and no other treatment is needed
Cardiac syncope
Patients with this type of syncope are exposed to dangerous complications, especially sudden death. Cardiac syncope is mainly caused by cardiac arrhythmias.
Ventricular tachycardia is a more serious cause of syncope. If malignant cardiac tachycardias occur in a person temporarily and transiently, by stopping the arrhythmia, the person regains consciousness.
The most important symptoms that raise the possibility of cardiac syncope include the following:
1) A history of coronary heart disease or its symptoms in the form of chest pain (angina) or a history of heart attacks
2) The presence of heart failure that can be detected by echocardiography.
3) Abnormal heart electrocardiogram, which can be used to detect heart arrhythmia, bradycardia, heart hypertrophy and other arrhythmia-causing diseases.
4) Family history of sudden death in close relatives
5) Diagnosis of cardiac arrhythmia during Holter recording
Immediate help to a person who has syncope
– Lay the victim on his back and give him complete rest.
– Release her tight clothes.
– Give enough oxygen if available.
– Raise his legs.
– If necessary, give artificial respiration and heart massage.