Fainting might have no medical significance. Or the cause can be a serious disorder, occasionally involving the heart. Therefore, treat loss of consciousness as a medical emergency until the symptoms are relieved and the cause is known. Talk to your health care provider if you faint more than once.
The short answer is 'yes. ' If you have fainted, you should see a physician or visit an emergency room right away to identify the cause of your fainting and to ensure you do not have a serious underlying condition.
Most unexplained blackouts are caused by syncope
Many people, including doctors, assume that blackouts are due to epileptic seizures, but much more commonly they are due to syncope (pronounced sin-co-pee) – a type of blackout which is caused by a problem in the regulation of blood pressure or sometimes with the heart.
Before fainting, it's common to experience some of the following: dizziness. lightheadedness. sweating.
While there are many and varied causes of sudden temporary vision loss, it's possible you may be at risk of a stroke. The official term for this type of symptom is called a “transient ischemic attack”, or TIA.
Most often, there is a warning prodrome, consisting of nausea, sweating, pallor, feeling of warmth, tingling of extremities, “graying out” and/or tunnel vision. This prodrome usually affords the patient a warning, allowing time to brace for a fall, thereby preventing serious injury.
Fainting, or passing out, usually happens because of a drop in blood pressure, which reduces blood flow and oxygen to your brain. Most fainting spells are nothing to worry about. But talk to a healthcare provider if you lose consciousness repeatedly or have any other symptoms.
The most common cause of blacking out is fainting. Other causes include epileptic seizures, syncope due to anxiety (psychogenic pseudosyncope) and other rare causes of faints. Other causes of blacking out may be due to low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) and lack of oxygen (hypoxia) from a variety of causes.
A blackout, or transient loss of consciousness (T‐LOC) occurs because there is: a disorder of the circulation—syncope; a disorder of the brain—epilepsy (or other rare neurological condition); a disorder of the psyche—psychogenic seizures.
Syncope blackouts
The American Heart Association (AHA) describe a syncope blackout as a short temporary loss of consciousness that happens when not enough blood reaches the brain. People may also refer to this type of blackout as fainting.
Some people use the terms blackout and fainting interchangeably, but they are different things. A blackout is a loss of memory. Fainting, also called passing out, is a loss of consciousness.
Before fainting, you may have sweaty palms, dizziness, lightheadedness, problems seeing, or nausea. In young people, the problem usually has no serious cause, though falls related to fainting can lead to injury. But in some cases, it can be due to an underlying heart problem that is more concerning.
Fainting might have no medical significance. Or the cause can be a serious disorder, occasionally involving the heart. Therefore, treat loss of consciousness as a medical emergency until the symptoms are relieved and the cause is known. Talk to your health care provider if you faint more than once.
Stress and anxiety are the most common causes of psychogenic blackouts. This can be due to chronic stresses, such as being foreclosed on or having someone close to you pass away. Psychogenic blackouts are, however, more commonly associated with a single stressful event.
These symptoms may include lightheadedness, sweating, pale skin, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, and feeling warm, among others. Syncope may also be associated with a short episode of muscle twitching. If a person does not completely lose consciousness and muscle strength it is referred to as presyncope.
Although most strokes do not cause fainting, a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) that involves certain blood vessels at the base of the brain (posterior circulation stroke) can cause fainting. Similarly, a migraine that involves these blood vessels sometimes causes fainting.
Most people will recover quickly after fainting once they lie down as more blood flows to the brain. It also helps to loosen any constrictive clothing. After they wake up, have them stay lying down or sitting for a while longer until they're feeling better.
Some jerky movements may occur, especially if the person is still sitting or slouched with their head higher than their body. When coming round after a faint, the person often feels awful, sickly and may vomit, or even have diarrhoea. Often there is prolonged fatigue after a faint.
A person in a blackout will not remember something that happened a few minutes ago. Thus, if the person doesn't seem to know what you are talking about or has no memory of what happened, assume they are in a blackout and do NOT leave them alone.
Blackouts vs.
A blackout is not the same as “passing out,” which means either falling asleep or losing consciousness from drinking too much. During a blackout, a person is still awake but their brain is not creating new memories.
Blackouts increase with age, social class and the frequency of intoxication.