The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Sudden blackouts `are not necessarily cause for panic'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 28, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Sudden blackouts `are not necessarily cause for panic'

R. Sujatha

But known heart patients need to rule out complications

FIRST AID: A life saving technique for cardiac patients. — File photo

CHENNAI: When someone faints, it's not necessarily cause for panic, say doctors; it could be a transient loss of consciousness, which can happen to anyone, reassure doctors. It could be due to severe shock, stress, fear, sight of blood, exposure to sun, dehydration, lack of sleep, or hunger.

Serious conditions such as epilepsy, underlying heart problems, and hypertension could also cause what is called syncope.

"Syncope [pronounced sync-o-pee] is a medical term for an attack of giddiness. The cause for blackout could be an initial warning sign of stroke, or a cardiac problem. It could be harmless but cannot be ignored in today's scientific world," notes K. Harshavardhan, head of the Cardio-thoracic department at Government General Hospital.

In the case of hysterical women who experience giddiness, a whiff of pungent smell such as peppermint can help, he says. "Syncope could occur in children with congenital heart disease and blue babies when the brain gets switched off for a few seconds."

Though a single episode of syncope should not be a cause for worry, the practice of "touch, feel and prescribe medication" will not do. Family physicians and consultants should be able to diagnose the symptom and prescribe the necessary tests, doctors say. Ulhas M. Pandurangi, senior consultant at Madras Medical Mission, says, "Extreme giddiness or actual loss of consciousness is common in debilitated elderly people. If you see a general physician you end up with anti-giddiness medication."

If giddiness comes without warning, lasts for a few seconds and you wake up fresh, then it may not be a cause for worry. Ninety per cent of these kinds of episodes in the general population are benign. It does not determine the person's survival. Only in 10 per cent of the adult population syncope attacks may be caused by other conditions, he says.

When is it serious?

An underlying heart condition, people with known ailments, or losing consciousness for long periods and waking up confused are the signs for concern. In people with heart problems, syncope could lead to rapid beating of the heart, or very rarely the heart rate could be abnormally low.

Abnormal thickening or thinning of heart muscles could also result in syncope. These problems can be diagnosed through an ECG or an ECHO test, doctors explain.

People with a history of heart attacks, who have reduced pumping function of the heart, are at risk for syncope. If they develop syncope they may die suddenly, the expert says. Such heart patients may also need expensive medical procedures whose cost may be in the range of Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 10 lakh. This group of people forms a small but important segment and a number of investigations must be done before taking up the right medical intervention, Dr. Pandurangi says. In such patients drugs may not be effective.

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