First Aid for Fainting Spells (Syncope)

Hello Air-Clinicians and Steemians,

it's First Aid Friday again.:)

After having talked about convulsion and epilepsy last week I want to keep focus on neurological diseases and illnesses. Today we will talk about syncope.

What is syncope?

As a medical term, syncope refers to a sudden loss of consciousness and muscle tone which lasts for a short time and ends as spontaneously as it began. It is said to be caused by a lack of blood and oxygen supply to the brain. Underlying causes can vary and need some investigation at a hospital.

Who is at risk?

To some extent, syncope is occuring in many teenagers (especially girls). Other people with an increased risk are elder people, people with low blood pressure, people during fasting time, people with low blood sugar values, people with arterious diseases ...

Potential causes

Because of the many possible causes there's a need to find out the real cause. Which is why someone who has fainted is almost always transported to a hospital immediately.

The affected person may have responded to a certain trigger: an uneasy, scary situation, the sight of blood or an injection needle, urination, defecation, swallowing (especially if the swallowed piece is big), hyperventilation, any reason for descreased cardiac output or less transported blood to the brain ...

What to do

Keep the person at rest, have him or her lying down, put into a recovery position if unconscious. Have their head at the same level as the heart to give the blood a chance to get to the brain a little more easily. Check their breathing and pulse, keep them warm but not hot, speak to them calmly. Get him or her to a hospital as soon as possible.

Any person who witnessed the faint and/or a family member of the affected person should come along to the hospital or the paramedics who are doing the transport so that a most complete anamnesis can be obtained. Also, known metabolic issues, regularly taken drugs and alcohol consumption are valuable information as is any record of previous similar events.

The way the syncope displays can vary (with or without prodromal symptoms like nausea, pallor, migraine-like symptoms and also with or without subsequent confusion, amnesia or palpitations) and sometimes the display resembles myoclonic epilepsy or narcolepsy.

Further treatment of syncope includes avoidance of triggers in the future or learning ways to deal with them psychologically. Sometimes medication can help.

Remember to visit your doctor or CHAT A DOCTOR on Air-Clinic!

Thanks for reading.

Yours,

Anne @isarmoewe

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LIVE HEALTHY, GET WEALTHY! 🏥💙♨

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