What is Vertigo?

Question

Sometimes I have a fear of heights and sometimes I don't.

Answer 1

Vertigo derives from a Latin verb ‘vertere' meaning ‘to turn', and it describes any form of unreal sensation or illusion of movement between you and the objects around you or the surrounding itself. In some cases, this sensation may last for few minutes, but in other cases it may last for hours, days or even months. The defining factor of vertigo is dizziness, some of the other symptoms of vertigo are:

The sensation of spinning
The sensation of disorientation
Loss of equilibrium
When you have vertigo, every object around you will appear to be spinning or moving.


What causes vertigo?


Although its actual cause is unknown, this false hallucination of movement (vertigo) often results from inflamed vestibular portion of the inner ear. When the nerve endings of the inner ear become inflamed, you are likely to become dizzy, because your balance functioning gets impaired.

In humans, the inner ear is a an organs that control equilibrium and balance. Through nerve connections to the brain, these organs function to sense position and control balance of the body. So when the nerve tracts leading from the semi-circular canals in the inner ear get irritated, a person looses balance and become dizzy (vertigo symptoms).

Here are certain irritants that affect the inner ear and may result in the sufferer experiencing vertigo:

Bacteria
Viruses
Allergies
Nerve inflammation
Toxic substances
Tumors
Abnormal pressures
Excess ear fluids
Other environmental or lifestyle causes of inner ear infections that may leave a sufferer dizzy include alcohol consumption and cigarette smoke.

The following are several other disorders that may cause vertigo if not treated:

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)
Meniere's disease
Viral labyrinthitis
Vascular disease
Trauma
Otitis media
Acoustic neuroma
Allergies
Auto-immune disease
Metabolic disorders
Neurological disorders

What are symptoms of vertigo?


Vertigo describes different forms of dizziness that a person may feel. So, the general symptom of vertigo is dizziness. However, here are some of the symptoms of vertigo:

Unsteadiness
Imbalance
Vomiting
Double vision
Spinning
Lightheadedness
Fainting
Disorientation
Poor equilibrium
Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
Severe dizziness
Weakness in the limbs
Jerky eye movements
Headaches
Uncoordinated body movements
Slurred speech


Furthermore, vertigo is often associated with nausea, sometimes with hearing loss, a sense of fullness or noises in the ear and vision difficulties.


Who is more likely to get vertigo (dizziness)?

Anyone can become dizzy due to certain circumstances and medical conditions. However, people who have problematic ears or hearing impairment are more likely to become dizzy. Most cases of vertigo affect people who are older than 40.

Sudden attacks of vertigo can happen to perfectly healthy people during certain hallucinating conditions that affect their vision and brain functioning. This includes activities that trigger sensitivity of the inner ear to certain motions such as swaying and sudden starts and stops. This includes activities like:

Sailing
Skiing
Cycling
Riding in a car
Horse racing
Car race
Looking down from great heights
Causes of Vertigo can also be related to vision problems or sudden changes in blood pressure.


Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Vertigo derives from a Latin verb ‘vertere' meaning ‘to turn', and it describes any form of unreal sensation or illusion of movement between you and the objects around you or the surrounding itself. In some cases, this sensation may last for few minutes, but in other cases it may last for hours, days or even months. The defining factor of vertigo is dizziness.

Answer 3

Vertigo, sometimes called a headrush, is a major symptom of a balance disorder. It is the sensation of spinning while the body is stationary with lots to the earth or surroundings. With the eyes shut, there will be a sensation that the body is in movement, called subjective vertigo; if the eyes are open, the surroundings will appear to move past the field of vision, called objective vertigo.


Some people experience a vertigo sensation while looking at such imagesThe effects may be slight. It can cause nausea and vomiting or, if severe, may give rise to difficulty with standing and walking. Vertigo is usually associated with a problem in the inner ear balance mechanisms (vestibular system), in the brain, or with the nerve connections between these two organs. The most common cause is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV. Vertigo can be a symptom of an underlying harmless cause, such as in BPPV or it can suggest more serious problems. These include drug toxicities, strokes or tumors (though these are much less common than BPPV). Vertigo can also be brought on suddenly through various actions or incidents, such as skull fractures, sudden changes of blood pressure, or as a symptom of motion sickness while sailing, riding amusement rides or in a vehicle.[1]

Vertigo is typically classified into one of two categories depending on the location of the damaged vestibular pathway. These are peripheral or central vertigo. Each category has a distinct set of characteristics and associated findings.

Peripheral vertigo: The lesions, or the damaged areas, affect the inner ear or the vestibular division of the acoustic (CN VIII) nerve. Vertigo that is peripheral in origin tends to be felt as more severe than central vertigo, intermittent in timing, always associated with nystagmus in the horizontal plane and occasionally hearing loss or tinnitus (ringing of the ears).
Peripheral vertigo can be caused by BPPV, Ménière's disease or acute vestibular neuronitis. Peripheral vertigo, compared to the central type, though subjectively felt as more severe, is usually from a less serious cause.
Central vertigo: The lesions in central vertigo involve the brainstem vestibular nerve nuclei. Central vertigo is typically described as constant in timing, less severe in nature and occasionally with nystagmus that can be multi-directional. Associated symptoms include motor or sensory deficits, dysarthria (slurred speech) or ataxia.
Causes include things such as migraines, multiple sclerosis or tumors. Less commonly, strokes, seizures, trauma or infections can cause also central vertigo.
Vertigo should not be confused with dizziness. Dizziness is an unpleasant feeling of light-headedness, giddiness or fuzziness often accompanied by nausea.
Vertigo is often incorrectly used to describe a fear of heights.
Vertigo is often experienced when breathing helium, as a result of decreased oxygen flow to the brain.
Klinefelter's Syndrome people with this condition - have enhanced spatial thinking capabilities, so might be more susceptible to vertigo - research is ongoing. (for more information see reference to http://www.xxytalk.com in links below).
For causes, symptoms, and treatment, see balance disorder

Answer 4

Vertigo is not the fear of heights. Vertigo is a severe state of dizzyness.......to the point that the sufferer may have the sensation of "spinning in space", no sense of balance. It is sometimes associated with an inner ear problem.

Answer 5

Vertigo is dizziness, usually associated with some middle ear infection or disorder.

Answer 6

Vertigo is not fear of heights...its a type dizziness you feel when there is a shift in your relationship to the normal environment.

Read all about it here:
http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/462/main.html

or search vertigo in google.

Answer 7

Vertigo is like a falling feeling. Whether it is a dizziness or feeling of physically falling or emotionally draining.

Answer 8

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/vertigo/article_em.htm

Answer 9

Vertigo is when you are dizzy. I'm not sure of the correct word for fear of heights.

Answer 10

Vertigo is actually not a fear of heights. It is more of a spinning sensation.