Definition
Vertigo attacks describe the symptom dizziness. It is a sudden onset of dizziness in which the patient has the feeling of losing the ground under his feet. In medical terminology, the dizziness is called Vertigo. More precisely, it is a distorted perception that can affect the environment or movement.
The frequency
Dizziness is one of the most common causes for a visit to the doctor. It can typically occur as a result of damage to the inner ear or, similar to headaches, can be a main symptom and an indication of more complex organic damage. About one in five people regularly complain of dizziness. Younger people are less likely to suffer from dizziness than older patients. For most types of dizziness, women are more frequently affected than men.
The classification
The dizziness can manifest itself in various forms. Rotational vertigo is one of the most common types of vertigo. It manifests itself in the sudden feeling that the environment is spinning.
The feeling of spinning like on a merry-go-round lasts for a few seconds to minutes. Vertigo is accompanied by a strong tendency to fall and therefore a high risk of falling. Many people affected also suffer from nausea and vomiting.
At an advanced age, the rotary vertigo can often also appear as persistent rotary vertigo and can last for several hours or even days. Those affected suffer from very severe nausea and as a result often vomit. In addition, a clearly recognizable nystagmus occurs.
This is a horizontal twitching of the eyes, such as when looking out of the window of a moving train (so-called optokinetic nystagmus). The eyes first move with the direction of rotation and then return to their original position. This is quite normal when driving a train; spontaneously occurring nystagmus may indicate a disease of the organ of equilibrium in the inner ear.
A further distinction is made between positional vertigo, also known as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. It occurs when ear stones, so-called otoliths, have become loose in the inner ear. They play an important role in the organ of balance.
When they are detached, however, they are located randomly in the various archways of the inner ear and thus trigger the vertigo. This type of dizziness is also accompanied by nausea, vomiting and a pronounced tendency to fall. Furthermore, there is also the swindling vertigo, which is accompanied by a strong insecurity of gait and standing.
Here, too, the symptoms nausea and vomiting occur, but are generally less frequent. More often, patients with swindling dizziness fall into a state of drowsiness. A further distinction is made between swindling and phobic swindling, which usually has psychological causes and is associated with panic attacks.
The sudden dizziness attacks are a great strain for the person affected. Patients develop a strong feeling of anxiety and are constantly afraid of the next occurrence of an attack. Vertigo is also a term used to describe dizziness caused by visual stimuli.
They are also called optokinetic motion disorders. This dizziness can be triggered, for example, in the cinema by staring at the screen or in flight simulators. The brain receives information from the eyes and from the positional organs in joints and muscles that do not match. These different pieces of information lead to a contradiction and ultimately result in nausea, dizziness and in some cases vomiting.
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