Dizziness
Vertigo (Latin name)By Bjarne Lühr Hansen PhD, MD and Philipp Skafte-Holm MD, Mentor Institute
Dizziness is a false sense of movement, which may be the rotating or tilting. Rotating dizziness originates from the ear. Shaky dizziness comes from the cerebellum. Contact your doctor immediately if you besides dizziness have paralysis, difficulty speaking or difficulty walking - it may be signs of a blood clot in the brain.
Most have experienced dizziness. The older you get the more often it comes. About 1/3 of over 65 experience dizziness regularly.
The doctors mean by dizziness it is a feeling of movement without actually there is a movement. Many people complain about dizziness without being able to describe any actual movements - it is called uncharacteristically dizziness.
The movement may be rotating - that thing we are looking at is moving round and round. In the same way as when you are standing by a carousel that revolves around quickly. So we feel a few seconds, that things continue to run around, even though we have left the carousel.
The movement may also be shaky. In the same way as when after a longer sail comes on land and the ground continues to swing.
Many complain of dizziness without actual movements.
Dizziness with rotary motion can be caused by diseases of the ear. It can be otoliths, virus on the balance nerve or Meniere's disease.
Dizziness with sway due to conditions in the cerebellum. It may be a decreased blood supply to the cerebellum (calcification of a blood vessel, heart attack or low blood pressure). Disorders of the cerebellum may also rarely be caused by a brain tumour or multiple sclerosis.
Uncharacteristically dizziness described as a feeling that the body is not stable and that is just about to faint. It is not possible to find any physical explanation for this kind of dizziness. One assumes that psychological explanations - such as anxiety and stress - is the cause.