The causes of sudden vertigo and vomiting in the elderly include otolithiasis, Meniere’s disease, vestibular neuronitis, and cerebrovascular disease, etc., and the cause of the disease should be identified in a timely manner.
1. Otolithiasis: one of the most common peripheral vestibular diseases, which usually occurs after 40 years old. The main manifestation is transient vertigo after changing head position, accompanied by nystagmus, nausea and vomiting; after vertigo attack, there may be lightness of head and feet, floating feeling and feeling of instability.
2. Ménière’s disease: an idiopathic inner ear disease with membrane labyrinthine fluid accumulation, which occurs mostly in women aged 40-60 years old. The main manifestation is recurrent rotational vertigo with obvious ear stuffiness and hearing loss, accompanied by autonomic reflex symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, pallor, cold sweating, slow pulse, and decreased blood pressure.
3. Vestibular neuronitis: there is a history of upper respiratory tract viral infection about two weeks before the disease, with obvious vertigo and nystagmus. Severe cases may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting, but there is no tinnitus or deafness; the symptoms are aggravated by activities.
4. Cerebrovascular disease: including vertebrobasilar insufficiency, transient ischemic attack, cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage, mostly occurring in middle-aged and old people with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and other basic diseases, the lesion in the posterior circulation can cause obvious vertigo, vomiting discomfort. The patients usually start suddenly, and may be combined with impaired consciousness or limb paralysis.
However, it is not excluded that it is caused by other factors, and it is recommended that the patient should consult the doctor in time, ask the doctor to clarify the cause of the disease, and give targeted treatment.