What is the danger of hungry fainting, and how to avoid it?

A person feels normal when the brain adequately perceives any manifestations from the external environment. But there are cases when, against the background of provoking factors, an inadequate state occurs - syncope. A short-term loss of consciousness occurs due to the reduced concentration of oxygen in the blood, which does not reach the brain tissue in full.

The brain needs to receive blood at least 50/60 ml per minute. This ratio is maintained by pressure, due to which blood begins to quickly spread throughout the tissues and cells of the brain. The range of blood movement and heart rate directly depend on blood pressure. Changes in pressure can lead to a decrease in vascular resistance and a decrease in the frequency of cardiac output.

What is fainting

Fainting is a loss of consciousness that lasts for a short time. In medicine, this is defined as a syncope (“syncope” in Greek means “chopping off”). It is not a disease in itself, but always indicates a sharp problem in the body. A person loses consciousness due to the fact that the central nervous system does not receive enough oxygen. Under conditions of hypoxia, the brain “turns off” and fainting occurs.

Physiological causes of loss of consciousness from hunger

What causes lack of oxygen and impaired consciousness due to insufficient nutrition? Most often, a person loses consciousness due to a lack of glucose in the blood. Prolonged fasting leads to a drop in sugar levels, which causes hypoxia of the central nervous system. In addition, when there is a lack of food, waste and toxins enter the blood. Once in the brain, these harmful substances cause loss of consciousness.

Most often, syncope occurs due to a lack of nutrients in the body when a person does not have enough food. But there are other reasons for hungry fainting:

1. Often this condition is observed in people who are on a diet with a monotonous diet (for example, they eat only dairy products or fruit juices). This leads to an unbalanced diet, and the body begins to draw missing substances from internal resources. As a result, brain cells experience hypoxia.
2. A person may eat adequately, but often experience stressful situations or experience increased physical activity. This requires additional energy expenditure, the body begins to intensively consume kilocalories. All systems and organs have to work with increased load to provide the brain with oxygen. However, this is not always possible, and then the central nervous system turns off and fainting occurs.
3. Irregular eating, when a person eats dry food or takes long breaks between meals, can also lead to temporary loss of consciousness. In this case, a discrepancy arises between the intake of calories, carbohydrates, fats and the body’s energy expenditure.
4. In diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, the absorption of nutrients is impaired, which can cause loss of consciousness from hunger, even if a person does not deny himself food.
5. Systematic abuse of sweet carbonated drinks can cause fainting. Water with gas and sweeteners leaches beneficial microelements from the body, and this leads to a lack of nutrients and loss of consciousness.
6. Anorexia nervosa often causes fainting from lack of food. With this disease, appetite is sharply reduced, and the patient consumes very little food for a long time.

Sometimes a person loses consciousness by abruptly changing body position, for example when standing up. This can also be a type of hungry fainting if the body does not receive enough nutrients.

Causes of pathology

One of the most common causes of sudden loss of consciousness is an unbalanced diet - the root cause of loss of consciousness. This occurs when, for example, the diet is enriched with one type of product (fruits or vegetables).

In the absence of the proper ratio of nutrients, the body does not have the ability to accumulate energy reserves. Accordingly, the brain is deprived of the energy and useful elements it needs, which leads to hungry fainting. In addition, this type of diet negatively affects the functioning of the entire nervous system.

Physical fatigue also leads to weakening of the body. In this situation, brain cells, not fully provided with energy and valuable nutrition, begin to suffer greatly. The combination of excessive exercise and an unbalanced diet further aggravates the situation.

• Anorexic condition is a mental pathology characterized by a complete lack of appetite.

• A sudden change in the position of the body with a previous strict diet can also lead to loss of consciousness. This is explained by the fact that when a person rises sharply, the blood quickly moves away from the head. In this case, a lack of useful elements can result from dizziness and fainting.
• The cause of a sudden fall may be diseases of the gastrointestinal tract , for example, ulcers or dyspepsia. This happens due to a lack of important nutrients both in the entire body and in the brain. This also applies to diarrhea with vomiting.

• Dehydration is another factor that leads to depletion of the brain, the cells of which have the largest specific volume of fluid. Even an insignificant loss of water in the body leads to hungry fainting.
• Carrying a child . At the time of pregnancy, the female body needs an increasing supply of healthy products, so the expectant mother is often capable of losing consciousness.

• Diabetes . With this disease, there is a sharp decrease in glucose levels, and the first blow falls on the brain cells. A person may faint completely unexpectedly.
• Addiction to soda provokes the leaching of calcium, the lack of which leads to a lack of proper oxygen supply to cells.

After how many days of fasting does fainting occur?

Patients practicing therapeutic fasting are interested in how quickly fainting occurs when they completely refuse food. It is difficult to answer this question unambiguously, since the capabilities of the human body are individual. Some people can go several days without eating without experiencing syncope. Others lose consciousness even with a slight disruption of their usual diet.

Here a lot depends on the person’s physique. Thin people have low fat reserves. They experience hungry fainting after 1 day of complete refusal to eat. Dense and overweight people may lose consciousness on the third or fourth day of fasting, since at first the body will draw nutrients from its own reserves.

Presyncope

Usually a person does not lose consciousness suddenly. A few minutes before syncope, your health sharply worsens, and the first signs of hungry fainting occur:

• dizziness;
• cold sweat;
• nausea;
• fog;
• weakness;
• sensation of noise and ringing in the ears.

These symptoms indicate that the brain does not have enough oxygen, and soon the body will “turn off” the central nervous system. Then the person develops black spots and blurred vision, and the pupil stops responding to light. The skin turns pale and becomes covered in sweat. Approximately 20 seconds after visual disturbances, hungry fainting begins.

What could be the cause of fainting?

• Psychotrauma, stressful situation, severe fear;
• blood loss and even routine blood collection for analysis;
• severe pain, especially unexpected, as a result of injury;
• sudden rise from a sitting or lying position;
• forced long-term immobility (for example, during a lesson at school);
• pregnancy;
• being in a stuffy room;
• severe overheating;
• holding your breath;
• weakness due to malnutrition or lack of exercise;
• anemia;
• disruption of the heart and lungs.

As a rule, fainting is preceded by symptoms such as sudden paleness, a feeling of lightheadedness, nausea, dizziness, darkening of the eyes, and ringing in the ears. Sometimes that's all there is to it. But more often than not, the patient loses consciousness and slowly sinks to the floor. His breathing becomes shallow. The pulse may not be detected at the wrist, but it is present at the carotid artery. Typically, fainting lasts 10-50 seconds, after which the patient comes to his senses. For some time after fainting, he still feels weak and nauseous.

Symptoms of loss of consciousness during hunger

Syncope from lack of food usually does not last long. In this case, the following symptoms of hungry fainting are observed:

1. Weakness gradually increases, which turns into loss of consciousness.
2. A person stops reacting to the environment and stimuli; he has no reflexes.
3. Muscle tone is sharply reduced.
4. Blood pressure drops and heart rate decreases. A weak pulse is heard.
5. Involuntary release of urine and feces is possible.

This state usually lasts no more than 20 seconds; a person completely recovers from fainting within 4 to 5 minutes.

Kinds

There are several types of short-term loss of consciousness, depending on the mechanism of development of the pathology: neurotransmitter and neurogenic fainting, as 2 large groups of syncope.

Neurotransmitters occur with excessive excitability of the autonomic system, changes in blood circulation, and a decrease in blood emissions to the brain. The types of neurotransmitter fainting are:

• Carotid. They occur when the carotid sinus is oversensitized, when any of the human movements leads to a condition such as cerebral hypoperfusion (hypotension). The heart temporarily stops beating, systoles are not audible;
• Vasovaginal. The reason for their appearance is a violent outburst of emotions, a person’s prolonged stay on his feet. There is a short-term loss of consciousness, as a syndrome due to stimulation of the vagus nerve;
• Situational, when against the background of situations (sneezing, coughing, urinating, lifting weights), the pressure inside the chest sharply increases, while venous blood returns back to the heart, as a result of which blood pressure drops and stroke volume decreases. The sympathetic system, to compensate for the imbalance, increases the frequency of heart contractions, which leads to vasoconstriction.

Neurovegetative failure is most often observed in elderly people, when, due to a number of physiological characteristics, the body begins to react sensitively to unfavorable situations, and the pressure does not return to normal. A short-term fainting occurs.

Neurogenic. There are different types of fainting:

• Orthostatic – due to taking a number of medications (antidepressants, inhibitors, a-blockers) or abruptly standing up after sleep;
• Vasodepressor. More often occurring in young people when they are in a certain situation (standing on their feet for a long time, strong emotions, fear). The condition can be provoked by myocardial infarction, blockade of impulse conduction;
• Hyperventilation fainting, the cause of which is fear, anxiety, panic. The heartbeat begins to unconsciously increase, breathing deepens, and signs of bradycardia are observed. When fainting, patients experience hot flashes to the head, while the flow of blood to the brain sharply decreases, and arrhythmia occurs.

First aid

It is necessary to provide first aid as soon as possible in case of hungry fainting. Syncope itself is not dangerous. But falling while losing consciousness can lead to injury. In addition, residual neurological impairment is possible due to brain hypoxia during hungry syncope. What to do if a person falls and lies unconscious due to lack of nutrition? The following actions need to be taken:

1. All clothing on the patient should be unbuttoned to ensure an influx of oxygen.
2. The patient should be placed so that the legs are higher than the body.
3. The head is turned to the side so that the tongue does not sink in and block the airway.
4. Then you need to let the cotton wool soaked in ammonia smell. If there is no such medicine, then you can rub your temples vigorously with a solution of vinegar or cologne. You can also help the patient by pressing forcefully on the area of ​​the face between the nose and upper lip.
5. As soon as the person regains consciousness, he should be given sweet tea or coffee to drink. After 30 minutes the patient must be fed.

First aid for fainting

First aid for fainting involves the following actions:

• lay the person down by lifting his legs and turning his head to the side;
• unbutton clothes;
• bring the ammonia solution to your nose;
• when you come to your senses, give them a few sips of tea with sugar, a drink with caffeine, or juice;
• call an ambulance team.

In the absence of ammonia, it is recommended to use rubbing the temporal area with a vinegar solution, eau de toilette, and cologne.

ATTENTION! You can't give food! This can lead to unpredictable consequences!

What not to do if you faint from hunger

The most common mistake in cases of hungry fainting is eating a lot of food soon after losing consciousness. It seems to others that if a person has been without food for a long time, then he should be fed heavily. This is a rather dangerous misconception. Overeating after fasting can cause gastrointestinal obstruction.

After losing consciousness due to hunger, a person can be given food only after half an hour. Food should be light, its quantity should not be too plentiful. It must be remembered that the patient’s stomach cannot digest a large mass of food after starvation.

What to do after

1. You should not get up suddenly, otherwise fainting may recur.
2. Be sure to give the patient sweet tea and coffee.
3. It is important to wait for the ambulance to arrive to establish a diagnosis.
4. If a person is 40 years old or more, this is his first fainting spell, which means there are serious disorders of brain activity.
5. In any case, if it is not clear why the loss of consciousness occurred, a comprehensive medical examination is required.
6. In agreement with your doctor, you should do physical therapy and walk outside more often.

Attention! An ambulance must be called! It is important to establish a diagnosis. Remember, one in 15 cases of fainting for unknown reasons is often fatal!

Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia is a condition similar to fainting due to hunger. It develops in patients with diabetes due to an overdose of insulin. As a result, a person's blood glucose levels drop sharply. He experiences symptoms such as a strong feeling of hunger, increased sweating, weakness, and nausea. In general, the symptoms of hypoglycemic syncope are similar to the symptoms of loss of consciousness from hunger.

When hypoglycemia approaches, it is necessary to give the patient any sweets: candy, glucose tablets, a piece of sugar. If this condition continues for more than 10 minutes, then you must call a doctor.

What is clouding of consciousness? What are its causes and treatment?

Clouding of consciousness is a special psychological state when a person is not able to assess what is happening, as well as to think realistically.
This is a serious change in mental state, but still not recognized as a clinical medical diagnosis. Symptoms of a disorder such as clouding of consciousness may appear gradually over a long period of time or occur unexpectedly.

The main symptoms of clouding of consciousness are:

A person in a clouded state is not aware of his personality, as well as his social affiliation. Sometimes only one or more of the symptoms described above appear.

Prolonged clouding of consciousness leads to dementia and loss of personal qualities. Clouding of consciousness occurs for various reasons.

For example, it appears temporarily after anesthesia along with severe dizziness and nausea or after a serious injury, carbon monoxide poisoning, after acute intoxication of the body (drug or alcohol), due to overwork, taking certain medications, hypoxia, prolonged insomnia (see also - how to deal with insomnia).

The cause of clouding of consciousness, partial or prolonged, may be the following diseases:

• brain tumors or concussions;
• schizophrenia;
• diabetes;
• sepsis;
• hypothyroidism;
• fever;
• heatstroke (first aid for heatstroke) or severe hypothermia;
• disruption of the heart;
• prolonged depression;
• epileptic seizures;
• severe dehydration of the body;
• senile dementia (dementia);
• Alzheimer's disease;
• renal failure;
• toxic shock syndrome;
• meningitis or encephalitis.

With these diseases or pathological conditions, clouding of consciousness occurs, which is only a symptom of the disease, and it already needs to be treated by a specialist.

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Several syndromes of clouded consciousness have been identified - amentia, stupor, delirium, oneiroid, twilight stupor. Stun

– a pathological condition characterized by the fact that a person seems to be in a dream, has difficulty answering standard and simple questions, gives unclear answers, becomes inactive, often silent and indifferent.
But he does not exhibit hallucinations, as well as affective disorders or delusional states. Note!
With prolonged stupor, stupor may develop - lack of reactions to external irritations and verbal contacts, as well as coma.
A mild form of stunning is called nullification. Oneiric clouding
is a dream-like, delusional-fantastic clouding. Fantastic dreams grow in a person’s head, which can be partially combined with the surrounding environment, then the patient can react to people nearby. A person with this type of clouding of consciousness usually has a frozen expression on his face; he may be silent, inactive, and practically motionless. The gaze alternates between amazement or delight, detachment or fear.

Note!

After such states, the patient is completely confident in the reality of what was happening, not realizing that these were just hallucinations.

Delirium or delirious confusion

is distinguished by many psychological abnormalities. These can be fantastic illusions, vivid hallucinations, visual memories. A person in such a state can actively move, run somewhere, rush, defend. His facial expression is constantly changing. The doctor can identify not only visual, but also auditory hallucinations, plus olfactory or tactile ones. Patients with delirium may have “lucid” periods of consciousness. Delirious delirium is manifested by muttering and uncoordinated monotonous actions. After this kind of clouding of consciousness disappears, a person may not remember it.

Sudden loss of consciousness

– this pathology can manifest itself in almost every person. The inability to think clearly sometimes occurs as a result of a severe head injury, after a blow, when the blood supply to the brain is disrupted, after hypoxia, severe emotional shock, sharp fluctuations in blood sugar levels, or at high temperatures.

Sudden loss of consciousness is caused by drugs and alcohol, some sedatives and psychotropic medications.

Sudden clouding of consciousness is manifested by disorientation, hallucinations of all kinds, spontaneous personality changes, excessive agitation, irritability or apathy, difficulty expressing thoughts clearly, memory lapses or unpredictable behavior.

Twilight haze

consciousness arises abruptly, sometimes lasts minutes or hours and also suddenly disappears. After which the patient usually falls asleep. Pathology is expressed by disorientation, but with the preservation of familiar actions, so it may go unnoticed by outsiders.

Often, a disorder of this kind is acute, accompanied by motor and speech agitation, fears, rage, and hallucinations. A person can show aggression and even pose a danger to others.
After the twilight haze, he does not remember anything, as if he was awakened from sleep. Disorders of consciousness: amentia, delirium, oneiroid and others (video)
We learn from the video what clouding of consciousness is, how it manifests itself, and what negative consequences it brings to human health.

When clouded consciousness appears, it is necessary to identify its cause, which can be either psychological in nature or associated with a physiological disease. Since the person is in an altered state, it is necessary to call for medical help immediately.

Important!

While waiting for doctors, you should try to calm the person down and put him to bed. It is better not to ask him anything and not to give him sedatives.

In case of acute psychological changes in consciousness, it is important to take the patient to a psychiatric clinic, accompanied by a doctor or nurse. When aggression occurs, doctors use appropriate psychotropic medications. To effectively treat clouded consciousness, it is important to determine the causes of its occurrence.

A comprehensive examination involves consultations with several specialists: a traumatologist, a neurologist, as well as a psychotherapist, therapist, and toxicologist. If there is a suspicion of non-psychological diseases, an MRI, biochemical blood test, and sometimes EEG, CT, ultrasound of internal organs, and studies of metabolic disorders are prescribed.

After the main diagnosis has been established, comprehensive immediate treatment is carried out, including not only medication, but also psychological aspects that can prevent the appearance of confusion. With clouding of consciousness of a long-term nature, proper care for the patient is important, especially for the elderly. Such people cannot be left alone, unattended.

Especially if disorientation manifests itself, they can simply get lost and get into trouble. A patient with senile dementia, as well as prolonged clouding of consciousness, should be in the most kind and warm atmosphere possible. It is advisable to hire a nurse for such a sick person.

Note!

In some cases, with clouding of consciousness, a course of antidepressants is prescribed.

It is necessary to constantly monitor the patient’s health: check the pulse, measure blood pressure, and also prevent dehydration.

To prevent the appearance of disorders of consciousness, proper nutrition, healthy sleep, and avoidance of alcohol are necessary. Diabetic patients need to constantly monitor glucose levels, train their memory, and always lead an active lifestyle. with useful information about clouding of consciousness - a symptom that can hide many pathologies and diseases. How to identify the cause of this condition and stop it or alleviate the patient’s condition. With proper diagnosis and timely treatment, clouding of consciousness disappears without a trace. The main thing is not to self-medicate and contact specialists. They will identify the cause of this condition and prescribe correct and effective treatment to stop the pathology or bring maximum relief to the patient. 0 comments

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Prevention

If a person has a tendency to faint, then too strict diets are contraindicated for him. It is necessary to avoid fasting days, a diet with monotonous food, and especially complete fasting.

While following a weight loss diet, you should not make sudden movements or expose yourself to physical and mental stress. You should not drink sweet carbonated drinks in large quantities. If a person has to observe severe dietary restrictions, then it is useful to always have candy or chocolate with him. This will help avoid deterioration in health and fainting from malnutrition.