No, You’re Not on a Ride at DisneylandEverything is spinning, your heart beats faster with every whirling sensation, your stomach leaps into your throat, your brain seems to rotate as you spiral up and down, and you feel more nauseous then a room full of pregnant women with morning sickness. No, you’re not on a ride at Disneyland, you have Vertigo.The online article, Vertigo, by HealthScout explains that dizziness and vertigo are often used interchangeable, but they are not the same thing, “While all vertigo is dizziness, not all dizziness is vertigo”, and because of this Vertigo can be misdiagnosed.
The article goes on to say that there are four major types of dizziness - vertigo, presyncope, disequilibrium, and lightheadedness, and that “most patients with true vertigo have a peripheral vestibular disorder, such as benign positional vertigo”, as Emma from Byron, MI discovered one day:
Two of the most common forms of Vertigo are Central, which can be caused by Migraines, M.S. or other diseases that can affect the brain, and Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV), a frequent diagnosis that if you try saying it 3 times fast you might just get dizzy yourself. BPPV is what Emma had, and can be triggered by motion sickness such as sudden head movements. You know the kind, when you get up quick from the couch during a commercial break to run to the loo. BPPV generally is caused by inner ear problems when calcium crystals or canal rocks (canalithiasis) are dislodged from the utricle and move to the semicircular canals. So if the doctor says your dizziness is due to having rocks in your head, you’ll know he’s not insulting you but actually giving you a diagnosis. The Michigan Ear Institute posted a simple explanation of BPPV: The article goes on to explain that symptoms can be different with each person but is mostly brought on by movement or position changes of the head such as laying back, tilting the head backwards, rolling over in bed, getting up quickly, (or doing loop-de-loops on a rollercoaster). BPPV symptoms can last for a few seconds or up to a few months. In extreme cases, the problem may not go away, or come back after it’s been resolved by your doctor. Though a doctor may be able to properly diagnosis you and assign a treatment, the Michigan Ear Institute claims that “medications are rarely effective” when treating BPPV. Other medical conditions such as, migraines, multiple sclerosis, Ménière's disease, and any kind of head trauma can trigger a Vertigo episode. In any event, if you feel a dizzy spell coming on it’s best not to try to drive yourself to the hospital. Instead, play it safe and get yourself a "Life Alert pendant like Emma did. That way you’ll have emergency service at the tip of your fingers. Oh, and you may want to stay off those Disneyland rides…do you hear me Aunt Emma? Works Cited Resources This article is based on ... The article on this Life Alert website and the article it is based on are covered by a Creative Commons License. You are free to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work; to make derivative works; to make commercial use of the work --under the following conditions: Attribution --You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor. For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. Please go to the Creative Commons License site for more information on the CC license that applies to this work. Don Rose writes books, papers and articles on computers, the Internet, AI, science and technology, and issues related to seniors. For more information about Life Alert and its many services and benefits for seniors – available in New York, California, Florida, and other states nationwide -- please visit the following websites: http://www.lifealert.net http://www.seniorprotection.com http://www.lifealertnewyork.com |