Almost half of the people fainted at least once. Before this, people usually complain that it is getting dark in their eyes. This happens for various reasons, but the common thing is that the blood stops supplying oxygen to the brain due to a sharp drop in blood pressure.
Fainting rarely occurs without previous symptoms. Often, before fainting, a person feels dizzy, lightheaded, hearing impairment, a strong heartbeat. There may even be nausea and vomiting, in many it darkens in the eyes. Someone may experience only one of these symptoms, some may have it all.
Losing consciousness, a person loses muscle tone. This leads to the fact that a person falls if he stood in front of a swoon. There are cases of short-term fainting, when a ripple in the eyes appears, a person turns off for a few seconds, but during this time the signal from the brain does not have time to reach the muscles. Then it does without falls. If, at the appearance of any of the above symptoms, one can at least crouch quickly, it is likely that fainting will be avoided.
Sometimes slight twitching of the arms or legs may occur. Do not be afraid, this is not epilepsy. After a person takes a horizontal position, the blood flow in his brain usually quickly recovers - and after 1-2 minutes he comes to his senses. Although it may seem to a person that a lot of time has passed.
As already mentioned, many people have fainting. Some take it for granted. And only if fainting begins to occur more often, people wonder why it is getting dark in their eyes, and go to the doctor.
Doctors call the most frequent type of syncope “vasovagal,” emphasizing the close connection between the human nervous system and the blood vessels. It occurs as a result of the reflex interaction of the nervous and cardiovascular systems. To establish the exact cause of the fainting, the doctor usually needs a detailed account of the witnesses (if any) and a detailed description of all the circumstances by the patient.
The doctor, however, usually prescribes an electrocardiogram or echocardiogram to rule out cardiac pathology. But in most cases, the prognosis is favorable. Brain research (EEG and scanning) in such a situation (with reflex syncope) is usually useless.
In addition to reflex, there are fainting associated with a sharp change in heart rhythm, impaired mitral valve function or associated with a nervous system disease, for example, with diabetes mellitus or Parkinson's disease. The reason can also be medications prescribed by a doctor to treat some health problems. Due to some drugs, the pressure can suddenly drop so sharply that with a sharp rise in patients, it darkens in the eyes and a "gray veil" appears.
The main task of the doctor, when the patient complains of fainting, is to immediately rule out heart failure (such cases, fortunately, are rare enough). Then additional studies are conducted to accurately diagnose the condition of the heart muscle or valve. For example, continuous continuous (up to 48 hours) recording of the rhythm and frequency of contractions of the heart muscle using an ECG is performed. A stress test is practiced on a treadmill to find out how much the patient is able to tolerate the load. With such an examination, more complete data is obtained about the heart rate or lack of oxygen to the heart during exercise.
In all cases, when it gets dark in the eyes, it is necessary to take a horizontal position as soon as possible. People nearby should not try to raise the patient’s head. It is better to turn a person on his side so that blood rushes better to the head, then the patient will quickly recover.