What Causes Dizziness

When the disco band of the late ’70, Boney M, sang “I feel Dizzy, my head is spinnin’ like a whirlpool it never ends”, they tried to make light of a condition that most of us might have gone through at some point in our lives. Many a times it is also the subject of many a misconceptions and myths – in fact, in India, the moment a married woman begins to feel dizzy and uneasy in any other way, she is belived to be on the path to motherhood! Many of us complain of this feeling that makes us feel lightheaded, when the world appears to spin and in many cases, it may even cause someone to fall unconscious, especially if the person is too weak. There are many other reasons – physiological, psychological and psychosomatic – that can cause a person to feel dizzy. Here are some of the most common causes for dizziness.

Dizziness Causes & Reasons

 

A low blood pressure is one of the most common causes for someone feeling dizzy or light headed. When a person has low blood pressure, insufficient oxygen-rich blood is delivered to the brain, which causes the dizziness. A person may also experience sweating, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, and chest pain.

 

Many a times, staying out in the sun for too long can cause someone to feel dizzy. In conditions such as extreme heat, high humidity, or vigorous exertion under the sun, if the body is unable to dissipate heat, and its temperature rises up to 106 degrees F (41.1 degrees C) or higher, it is called a heat stroke. While this is a serious medical emergency, other milder forms of the illness, called heat exhaustion or heat cramps, also cause dizziness.

 

Dehydration is the loss of water in the body, which may happen due to either excessive sweating, vomiting and diarrhea. At times, water loss also takes place when a person has a fever, as the the body tries to cool itself through sweating.

 

Vertigo is another common reason for the feeling of dizziness. It is described as a feeling of swaying or spinning when the body is actually stationary and is cited as the most common symptom of balance disorder. Vertigo disrupts the body's equilibrium, and is usually caused by a disorder of the inner ear or vestibular system (balance mechanism in your inner ear). Some of the conditions that give rise to vertigo are benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, Meniere's disease and inflammation in the inner ear.

 

This is one reason that even a child can point out – pun intended! Dizziness during pregnancy, especially during the first trimester, is very common. It may be felt anytime during the pregnancy, and women with blood pressure problems may experience it more often.

 

Heart Troubles can also cause dizziness and are, by far the most dangerous and worrisome cause of dizziness. Some of those conditions are heart attack, cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heart rhythms), rapid heart rate, or slow heart rate. The heart may be unable to pump blood due to conduction disturbances such as supraventricular tachycardia and bradycardia. Cardiomyopathy is another cause of dizziness.