Dizziness is a subjective sensory abnormality that can be divided into two types: vertigo and dizziness.
Dizziness is a kind of motion hallucination of oneself or external objects, which is a self-experience error of one’s own sense of balance and spatial image. It is a subjective sensation of rotation, elevation, linear motion, tilting and lightness of the head and feet. Vertigo is mostly caused by dysfunction of the vestibular nervous system and cerebellum. “True vertigo” has obvious sensation of rotation or tilting of oneself or surrounding objects, and is paroxysmal, accompanied by nystagmus, balance disorder and vegetative symptoms (pallor, nausea, sweating, change of blood pressure and pulse, etc.); “pseudo vertigo” is the shaking of oneself or external objects. It is unstable, persistent or paroxysmal, without accompanying symptoms or mild, and can be aggravated by environmental factors.
Dizziness is caused by systemic diseases, such as eye diseases, anemia, blood disorders, cardiac insufficiency, infection, poisoning and neurological disorders. It is characterized by dizziness or mild unsteadiness without vertigo, rarely accompanied by nausea or vomiting, and no nystagmus.
What are the common diseases associated with dizziness?
Dizziness is a common symptom rather than a separate disease. Therefore, we can classify the diseases that cause dizziness so that we can have a better understanding of “dizziness”.
(1) Vertigo can be divided into two categories: peripheral vertigo and central vertigo according to their causes.
(1) Peripheral vertigo refers to vertigo caused by lesions of the vagus or vestibular nerve in the inner ear. It is common in Meniere’s disease, vaginitis, drug-related vertigo (caused by drugs such as streptomycin or gentamicin) and vestibular neuritis.
(2) Central vertigo is vertigo caused by lesions of the brainstem, cerebellum, brain and spinal cord. It is occasionally seen in posterior circulation ischemia, common in intracranial tumor, intracranial infection, multiple sclerosis, vertigo epilepsy and traumatic vertigo, etc.
(2) Dizziness
(1) Cardiogenic: common in cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac insufficiency, etc.
(2) Pulmonary origin: seen in various causes of pulmonary insufficiency.
(3) ophthalmogenic: common in refractive error, fundus arteriosclerosis, hemorrhage and ocular muscle paralysis.
(4) Blood pressure: high or low blood pressure can cause dizziness.
(5) Other: anemia, cervical spondylosis, fever, gastroenteritis, endocrine disorders and neurological disorders can cause dizziness.
How to register for medical consultation for dizziness patients
Patients with dizziness encounter the problem of not knowing what department to register for, because the etiology of dizziness involves multiple disciplines, so you should choose the first department according to the type of dizziness and accompanying symptoms, and then go to the relevant department for further examination if other problems are found.
(1) Those with sudden onset of dizziness with tinnitus and hearing loss without blood pressure changes should be seen at the Department of Otolaryngology.
(2) Unexplained dizziness or vertigo with limb numbness and hemiparesis. Those with unfavorable speech, headache, vomiting, or convulsions should be seen in neurology.
(3) Those with dizziness accompanied by change in blood pressure, fever and sweating should be seen in internal medicine.
(4) Those who have a history of heart disease and experience dizziness with palpitations, dyspnea, and blue lips should consult a cardiologist.
(5) If dizziness is accompanied by loss of vision and mosquito sensation in front of the eyes, consult an ophthalmologist.
(6) Patients with dizziness with pallor or bleeding spots on the skin should be seen by the Department of Hematology.
(7) Patients with dizziness closely related to neck rotation, accompanied by shoulder and neck pain and arm numbness should consult an orthopedic surgeon.
Is frequent dizziness related to cervical spondylosis?
Vertebral artery type cervical spondylosis can cause dizziness, which is caused by osteophytes that compress the vertebral artery on one or both sides; or when the cervical spine is unstable, the movement of the head may cause spasm of the vertebral artery, and the vestibular nerve and cerebellum are part of the blood supply of the vertebral artery, thus producing dizziness. However, pathological data show that most cases are not all caused by the narrowing of the vertebral artery, and the ischemia of the brain is related to the degeneration of the entire cerebral arterial system and to the systemic vascular sclerosis. Therefore, frequent dizziness is not always related to cervical spondylosis, but can be caused by any disease that causes disorders of the balance system.
What should I do if I experience dizziness?
(1) When dizziness occurs in middle-aged people, blood pressure should be measured first, because the main manifestations of hypertension are headache, dizziness and dizziness. However, dizziness can also occur with low blood pressure.