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Frequent dizziness can be fatal
Dizziness is one of the most common symptoms in medicine. There are different forms of dizziness as well as different causes. Often the complaints are not taken seriously, but a new study suggests that dizziness could also increase the risk of death.
Dizziness can express itself differently
Dizziness is widespread and can express itself very differently. For example, those affected by the swindle have the feeling that something is spinning inside them or that the environment is revolving around them. When Schwankschwindel, however, it feels as if one wavers or the environment moves back and forth. And Liftschwindel goes along with the feeling of the up and down movement of the environment, as they are known from trips with lifts. In addition to the perceptions described, one-way fall inclination, tremor, and a variety of vegetative symptoms such as nausea, sweating, or palpitations often occur.
The forms of dizziness are almost as diverse as its causes. A new study now indicates that dizziness patients have a higher risk of dying. (Image: Antonioguillem / fotolia.com) Always take frequent dizziness seriously
There may be physical reasons behind it, but there are also mental causes of dizziness. It can be triggered, for example, by anxiety disorders. Dizziness can also be a sign of a stroke. Doctors urge again and again: frequent dizziness must always be taken seriously. Just how important this is is now revealed by a new study by American scientists. The researchers found that people who suffer from dizziness often die earlier.
Falls as a result of balance disorders
For the study of ENT specialists Eduardo Corrales and Neil Bhattacharyya of Harvard Medical School in Boston, the data of over 210 million Americans who participated in the National Health Interview Survey in 2008 were searched. The aim of the physicians was to find out possible connections between dizzy spells and an increased risk of death. It is known that many older people in particular die as a result of falls, which are often caused by balance disorders. The scientists reported on their findings in the journal "The Laryngoscope".
Higher risk of dizziness in vertigo patients
It was found that in patients who were dizzy at the beginning of the survey, about nine percent died after five years. In dizziness-free patients, however, it was only 2.6 percent. The scientists then included other variables in their calculations, including diagnoses of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. But even after considering these factors, the physicians found that an attenuated but independent influence of dizziness symptoms on mortality was detectable. The risk of dying was still 70 percent higher than the risk of dizziness for dizziness patients.
One of the main causes of death
The researchers point out that the nine percent mortality rate associated with dizziness over a five-year period is similar to that of the four main causes of death in the US. These are circulatory disorders of the brain such as stroke (18.7 percent), cancer (11.6 percent), cardiovascular diseases (10.5 percent) and diabetes mellitus (9.8 percent). Otolaryngologists therefore believe that dizziness should be given a greater role in health care. If the causes are recognized early and treated, it may possibly prevent an earlier death. Depending on the trigger then different treatment options come into question. (Ad)