Other Causes Of Dizziness In Seniors
If you are a senior struggling with dizzy spells, there are several potential causes other than BPPV or spinal degeneration. The first is abnormal blood pressure, who can lead to orthostatic, or postural, hypotension. This results in quick dizzy spells when you stand up too quickly and is a concern to address with your doctor. Some medications also cause dizziness as a side effect, including ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, and calcium-channel blockers. Additionally, certain medications can interact with one another and cause dizziness. Finally, untreated mental health conditions like anxiety can cause dizziness. If youre anxious about retirement or other age-related concerns, you might notice more frequent dizzy spells.
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Your golden years should be a relaxing opportunity to explore your interests and connect with family members. You shouldnt have to deal with frustrating dizzy spells. While there are several causes of dizziness in seniors, the vast majority of these conditions are highly treatable. Reach out to a trusted medical professional today so you can treat your dizziness and get back to enjoying your senior years.
How Many Stages Of Dementia Are There
There are several different types of Dementia, with Alzheimers disease being the most common. Though when it comes to the different stages of Dementia, we can typically categorise the trajectory of the disease as mild, moderate or severe.
Although this three stage model is useful for providing an overview of early, middle and final stages of Dementia, most people prefer a seven stage model that breaks cognitive decline down into seven specific categories. The progression of Dementia will be different for everyone, but knowing where a loved one falls on this scale can help to identify signs and symptoms, whilst also determining the most appropriate care needs. So, what are the 7 stages of Dementia?
If I Took One More Blow To The Head I Could Die
Afterwards, he received a jaw-dropping wake-up call.
The real shocker came after seeing a specialist who I always remember had a big smile, he said.
I was thinking everything was going to be okay.
He then went on to say if I took one more blow to the head I would either be fine, paralyzed or could die.
Stuart has spoken out about fears his concussions could have increased his risks of dementia.
But he says no one was fully aware of the long-term risks and, despite them, hed still let his children take part in the sport.
He said: Contact sports give so much more to people than what the risks are.
We can get concussed and we can get hurt.
The difference now is that more people have knowledge what the long-term effect is and how we recover and look after our bodies and teammates.
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Information About Having Dizzy Spells And The Vestibular System
Both dizziness and hypotension are two conditions that may not get as much attention as they should. When these two conditions occur, whether together or individually, many people often push them off since they only last for a short amount of time. Even doctors may disregard these symptoms as minor issues.
The truth is that, when studied as a whole, dizziness and hypotension are a part of a bigger picture and the number of people that deal with these conditions are surprising. They are part of an epidemiology that is composed of:
- Dizziness
- Depression
- Vaso-vagal episodes
Researchers and doctors find that these issues usually occur in a combination of at least two or three of them rather than individually. It has also been found that more women that men suffer from these issues in combination.
When studying these conditions together, they are liked as being vestibular problems. This means that its a condition of the inner ear, which is where the human body gets its balance from. However, vestibular functions are often linked to certain cognitive functions such as memory and emotions.
Based on this, it should be no surprise that blood pressure problems are showing a correlation with cognitive disorders. Exploring the this correlation can lead to a major advance in solving vestibular issues in addition to dementia.
What Are The Most Likely Causes Of Dizzy Spells
There are lots and lots of disorders where dizzy spells can crop up as a symptom. Thankfully, the most common ones are typically pretty easy to treat or dont last very long. Here are four of the most common reasons for dizzy spells.
We could all probably put down the latte and pick up our water bottle a little more often. After all, your body is between 55% and 78% water, and losing even 1.5% can cause symptoms of dehydration, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Even mild dehydration can cause dizziness, along with headache, fatigue, muscle weakness, and problems focusing. Its good to hydrate regularly throughout the day, but be extra diligent when exercising or enjoying the outdoors when its particularly hot and sweaty.
BPPV is the most common peripheral vestibular system disorder, which just means that fluid and other delicate parts of the ear are out of whack. While it most often affects people assigned female at birth and those in the 50-to-70 age group, there are plenty of people who can experience this condition at any age.2 This sounds very New Age, but the reason people get BPPV is the movement of calcium carbonate crystals in the inner ear to an area where they shouldnt be, Erin G. Piker, Au.D., Ph.D., CCC-A, associate professor and director of the Vestibular Sciences Laboratory at James Madison University, tells SELF.
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Causes Of Dizziness And Lightheadedness
Dizziness and lightheadedness can make you feel faint, like you need to pass out. Causes of dizziness, including vertigo- that whirling sensation you may experience while sitting still- may include anemia from vitamin B12 deficiency or low iron, heart disease, or one of several other conditions that share symptoms of nausea, fatigue, and loss of balance.
How Will Your Doctor Arrive At A Diagnosis
It would be so awesome if you went to see the doctor for dizzy spells, and there was a test that just spits out the answer to all your problems. Unfortunately, your doctor is going to have to consider your individual symptoms and try to piece together the puzzle.
This includes factors like:
- How long does the dizzy spell last?
- How long have you felt dizzy in general?
- What other symptoms do you have ?
- What is your medical history?
Your doctor can help you distinguish among different types of dizziness. These include:7
- Disequilibrium: This involves difficulty with balance or coordination.
- Disorientation: This can manifest as confusion or feeling unfamiliar with your surroundings.
- Oscillopsia: This is the feeling that objects around you are moving, but you are staying in place.
- Presyncope: The sensation that you are going to faint.
- Vertigo: The feeling that you are spinning, with other items either spinning or staying stationary.
Your doctor will also consider your symptoms when making a recommendation for testing and treatments.
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Central Vertigo And Dizzy Spells
Central vertigo refers to dizziness caused by brain issues. These causes can be more serious and difficult to treat than most cases of peripheral vertigo.
One distinguishing factor of central vertigo is that fixing your eyes on one spot does not help relieve dizziness. Also, central vertigo episodes are more intense and last longer. Although hearing is not as affected as it is in peripheral vertigo, people often experience headaches, trouble swallowing, and weakness.
Factors known to cause central vertigo include head injury, illness, infection, multiple sclerosis, migraines, brain tumors, stroke, transient ischemic attacks , and neurological autoimmunity.
Resilience: The Best Defense Against Dementia
Strangely, some people with physical signs of Alzheimers, Vascular dementia, Lewy body or even all three show no cognitive symptoms at all. The reason is a mystery, and the medical community refers to it as resilience or cognitive reserve. We dont know much about it, Dr. Cora admits. But the more you use your brain develop connections and associations the easier the brain can look for other areas to resolve issues.
Manage hearing loss
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Being Confused About Time Or Place
Dementia can make it hard to judge the passing of time. People may also forget where they are at any time.
They may find it hard to understand events in the future or the past and may struggle with dates.
Visual information can be challenging for a person with dementia. It can be hard to read, to judge distances, or work out the differences between colors.
Someone who usually drives or cycles may start to find these activities challenging.
A person with dementia may find it hard to engage in conversations.
They may forget what they are saying or what somebody else has said. It can be difficult to enter a conversation.
People may also find their spelling, punctuation, and grammar get worse.
Some peoples handwriting becomes more difficult to read.
A person with dementia may not be able to remember where they leave everyday objects, such as a remote control, important documents, cash, or their keys.
Misplacing possessions can be frustrating and may mean they accuse other people of stealing.
It can be hard for someone with dementia to understand what is fair and reasonable. This may mean they pay too much for things, or become easily sure about buying things they do not need.
Some people with dementia also pay less attention to keeping themselves clean and presentable.
Imaging And Laboratory Investigations In Patients Presenting With Neurological Symptoms
Brain MRI was performed in 9 of 11 patients at time of neurological symptoms, including perfusion analyses in 7 of 11 . Of note, all patients were already treated with ASA for a few days but still had neurological symptoms at time of MRI. In all but 2 patients, MRI was normal. In one patient described above, a left transverse sinus thrombosis was discovered. In the second patient, MRI showed a small sequela of a cerebellar infarct. This patient had complained of fluctuating dizziness one year before the MRI was carried out. This image was considered to be unrelated to the clinical symptoms, because the patient had experienced episodes of fluctuating dizziness over one year, and the infarct was small and located in the cerebellar hemisphere. In the 3 patients who had TIA, cardiac transthoracic and supra-aortic echography and ultrasonography were performed. No cardiovascular etiology was confirmed.
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Why Do I Get Dizzy Common Reasons And Solutions
The sudden lack of control is frightening when a dizzy spell, or vertigo, hits you. The world spins and rocks, the ground feels like its giving way, your ears ring, and nausea may grip your gut.
Vertigo feels terribly wrong and frightening and understandably has people worrying, Why do I get dizzy?
Several things can cause vertigo. its important to understand the underlying cause of your dizzy spells to improve your success in addressing them.
Before looking for underlying causes, first figure out what type of vertigo you have.
How Does Ad Cause Dizziness
Unlike many other degenerative dementias, AD is not particularly associated with dizziness. This is because AD mainly affects the cortex and does not typically cause either low blood pressure , basal ganglia feature , or slow eye movements . Dizziness from AD instead typically might include falls due to:
- Reduced vigilance
- Diffuse impairment of cortical function
Alzheimer’s is a “anything goes” type dementia and one can certainly attribute dizziness to AD. Posterior cortical atrophy, for example, is defined as shrinkage of the visual part of the brain, due to whatever cause, but mainly Alzheimer’s disease, as AD is a major cause of cerebral atrophy. Posterior cortical atrophy is described in an open journal here.
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Progression And Later Stages Of Vascular Dementia
Vascular dementia will generally get worse, although the speed and pattern of this decline vary.
Stroke-related dementia often progresses in a ‘stepped’ way, with long periods when symptoms are stable and periods when symptoms rapidly get worse. This is because each additional stroke causes further damage to the brain. Subcortical vascular dementia may occasionally follow this stepped progression, but more often symptoms get worse gradually, as the area of affected white matter slowly expands.
Over time a person with vascular dementia is likely to develop more severe confusion or disorientation, and further problems with reasoning and communication. Memory loss, for example for recent events or names, will also become worse. The person is likely to need more support with day-to-day activities such as cooking or cleaning.
As vascular dementia progresses, many people also develop behaviours that seem unusual or out of character. The most common include irritability, agitation, aggressive behaviour and a disturbed sleep pattern. Someone may also act in socially inappropriate ways.
Occasionally a person with vascular dementia will strongly believe things that are not true or – less often – see things that are not really there . These behaviours can be distressing and a challenge for all involved.
People Who Feel Dizzy When They Stand Up May Have Higher Risk Of Dementia
- Date:
- American Academy of Neurology
- Summary:
- Some people who feel dizzy or lightheaded when they stand up may have an increased risk of developing dementia years later, according to a new study. The condition, called orthostatic hypotension, occurs when people experience a sudden drop in blood pressure when they stand up.
Some people who feel dizzy or lightheaded when they stand up may have an increased risk of developing dementia years later, according to a new study published in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The condition, called orthostatic hypotension, occurs when people experience a sudden drop in blood pressure when they stand up.
The study found the link with dementia only in people who have a drop in their systolic blood pressure, not in people with only a drop in their diastolic blood pressure or their blood pressure overall.
Systolic is the first, or top, number in a blood pressure reading and systolic orthostatic hypotension was defined as a drop of at least 15 mmHg after standing from a sitting position.
“People’s blood pressure when they move from sitting to standing should be monitored,” said study author Laure Rouch, Pharm.D., Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco. “It’s possible that controlling these blood pressure drops could be a promising way to help preserve people’s thinking and memory skills as they age.”
The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging.
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Why Dementia Affects Balance
Memory problems and difficulty thinking are the side effects most commonly associated with Alzheimers disease and similar dementias, but loss of balance is a scary issue that caregivers should be prepared for, especially in later stages.
In earlier stages, or even before other dementia symptoms develop, losing balance while standing or walking can indicate an increased potential to develop Alzheimers. It may also be a sign that your loved one is suffering from a kind of dementia other than Alzheimers, like vascular dementia.
The part of the brain that controls body movements is the cerebellum, located near the back base of the skull. Diseases that affect the cerebellum are likely to affect balance, and certain types of dementia fit the bill. Vascular dementia, for instance, is different from Alzheimers disease because the illness is caused by a lack of blood flow carrying oxygen to the cerebellum. Some people with vascular dementia will actually experience feelings of vertigo before they have trouble with thinking and memory.
There is also a specific kind of Alzheimers, called posterior cortical atrophy, which targets the cerebellum and, as a result, affects balance. People with posterior cortical atrophy can lose their sense of knowing which direction is up, are more prone to dizziness, and may be frequently leaning to one side.
Did You Know?
Medications that Impact Balance
Can Thyroid Problems Cause Dizziness
Thyroid hormones participate in a number of processes and functions in our body. Higher or lower production of these hormones is manifested through a wide range of symptoms. That being said, some symptoms of thyroid problems are widely discussed. For example, hair loss and weight gain/loss are often addressed, while symptoms such as dizziness do not get enough attention although its important to get informed and know as much as possible in order to manage your condition successfully. Studies on this subject are scarce, but hopefully, things will change in the near future.
If youre wondering whether thyroid problems can indeed cause lightheadedness, the answer is yes. In fact, both hypo- and hyperthyroidism can make you feel dizzy or lightheaded. How? Lets see.
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Dementia Risk Linked To Dizzy Spells In Middle
Written byCarly RaffiekPublished onMarch 14, 2017
Middle-aged adults who experience dizzy spells upon standing may have a higher risk of developing dementia later in life according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. These dizzy spells are caused by a sudden and temporary drop in blood pressurereferred to as orthostatic hypotensionand have the potential to cause long-term damage to brain function caused by reduced blood flow to the brain.
To discover this relationship, researchers looked at data from over 11,500 adults with an average age of 54. These participants were followed over the course of at least 20 years, and it was found that those who had orthostatic hypotension at the beginning of the study were 40 percent more likely to develop dementia than their peers without it. These individuals were also found to be 15 percent more likely to experience cognitive decline. While a relationship was discovered by this research, it did not prove a causal link, meaning investigators were unable to prove whether the middle-age dizziness was responsible for the development of dementia later on.