Why are you suddenly falling? Because of my nervous fainting?There are 1.5 times more women
Apr 10, 2025
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◇ 1.5 times more female than male…Caused by temporary imbalance in autonomic nervous system
American neurotic fainting is the most common form of fainting. In fact, about half of the patients who visit the emergency room due to fainting are diagnosed with vagus nerve fainting, and it is so common that about 20-30% of the total population experiences it at least once in a lifetime. It occurs 1.5 times more in women than in men.
The cause of vagus nerve fainting is a temporary imbalance in the autonomic nervous system. When you wake up while lying down in your daily life, about 800ml of blood spread evenly in your body moves rapidly toward your legs due to the influence of gravity. At this time, the autonomic nervous system maintains blood flow in the brain by increasing heart rate and blood vessel tension so that the brain does not lack blood. However, in the case of patients with vagus nerve fainting, the mechanical receptor in the heart malfunctions, and even though the heart is empty due to decreased blood, it delivers false information to the brain as if it were excessively filled with blood. This signal is transmitted to the brain stem through the vagus nerve, and the parasympathetic nerve is activated by stimulating the vagus nerve neurons in the brain stem. As a result, bradycardia occurs, and sympathetic nervous system activity is suppressed, resulting in vasodilation and hypotension. These effects reduce brain blood flow, resulting in temporary loss of consciousness.
◇ Emotional stress, establishment stimulation, physical stimulation, environmental factors, etc. are risk factors
Three types of American neurotic fainting are cardiac suppression, vascular suppression, and mixed, depending on which part of the autonomic nervous system is more strongly affected. In the cardiac suppression type, parasympathetic nerve activation is prominent, and heart rate reduction is the main symptom, and in the vascular suppression type, sympathetic nerve suppression is mainly caused, resulting in decreased blood pressure, and in the mixed type, both mechanisms work and are the most common.
Major risk factors for vagus nerve fainting include emotional stress, orthostatic stimulation, physical stimulation, environmental factors, and specific drug use. Emotional stress includes fear, pain, anxiety, blood viewing, or exposure to needles, and orthostatic stimuli include standing for a long time and sudden posture changes. Physical stimuli include defecation, urination, cough, and environmental factors include hot weather, confined spaces, and dehydration. In addition, the use of certain drugs, such as antihypertensive drugs, diuretics, and antidepressants, may also be responsible.
◇Preventive symptoms such as dizziness, dizziness, blurred vision, cold sweat, nausea, and dizziness before fainting
Before fainting, signs such as dizziness and dizziness, blurred vision or tunnel vision, cold sweat, nausea, nausea, paleness, heart palpitations, feeling warm all over the body, and tinnitus may appear. During fainting, short consciousness loss of several seconds to several minutes or sometimes simple convulsive movements can appear. After fainting, most recover quickly, and there may be temporary confusion and fatigue.
vagus nerve fainting is diagnosed by combining clinical symptoms and test results. The most important test is the Tilt table test, which continuously monitors blood pressure and pulse while laying the patient on a standing table and standing at an angle of 60 to 70 degrees. During the test, drugs such as nitroglycerin and isoproterenol can be administered to cause fainting symptoms. If the patient's fainting symptoms are reproduced during the examination or characteristic blood pressure drop and pulse decrease are observed, it is confirmed as vagus nerve fainting. Brain waves, echocardiography, 24-hour electrocardiogram, and blood tests may be necessary to exclude other causes.
◇Those who do not need special treatment but who are at high risk of injury consider drug treatment
Most American neurotic fainting requires no special treatment. However, medication may be considered if frequent fainting interferes with daily life, a job with a high risk of injury, or if the elderly have a high risk of fracture due to fainting. If the quality of life is greatly reduced due to severe bradycardia, pacemaker treatment may also be considered.
Most vagus nerve fainting can be managed by lifestyle correction. There are methods such as avoiding triggering factors, sitting or lying down immediately, raising legs, not standing for a long time, drinking 2 to 3 liters of sufficient water per day, and wearing compression stockings. Excessive caffeine and alcohol consumption can cause vasodilation, which can lower blood pressure, so it is better to avoid it, and proper salt intake and lower body strength exercise are helpful.
Professor Ji-eun Yoon said "Many people think that American neuropathy is a sign of a serious life-threatening disease, and most of them have a positive course and are sufficiently manageable with proper prevention and response."
"However, when fainting occurs for the first time, it is necessary to check whether there are any other serious causative diseases through specialist treatment. In addition, vagus nerve fainting can show twitch-like movements along with temporary loss of consciousness, which can be confused with epilepsy, so accurate differential diagnosis and professional evaluation are required.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
