Vertigo is a common subtype of dizziness that causes people to feel like they're spinning. That feeling can be sudden and last for seconds, minutes, or even days. It's often caused by irregularities in the vestibular system, the sensory system in the inner ear governing our body's sense of stability.
Common triggers include viruses that cause inflammation in the inner ear and a condition called BPPV—benign paroxysmal positional vertigo—which occurs when tiny calcium carbonate crystals in the inner ear migrate into the ear's semicircular canals, sending irregular nerve impulses to the brain. Another common cause is Ménière's disease, which also involves balance issues, hearing loss, tinnitus, and a feeling of fullness in one ear.
Vertigo, which comes from the Latin "vertere," meaning "to turn," can also be a side effect of certain medications or a symptom of a stroke, a tumor, or migraines. Some patients may be treated with specific exercises, medication, and, rarely, surgery.
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This two-minute video explains vertigo—a subtype of dizziness—and its many potential causes. It explores the vestibular system, the inner ear system, which typically governs our sense of stability, and details its anatomy.
In this video podcast neuroscientist Andrew Huberman describes one way to help alleviate dizziness and motion sickness symptoms. He suggests visual anchoring—fixating your vision on a point several feet away and moving closer to it, if possible, or fixating your vision on your extended finger and slowly moving it toward your nose and away again.
A doctor will look at a vertigo patient's rapid, uncontrollable eye movements—formally called nystagmus—to better understand its causes. When a patient is lying down with their head turned and their eyes spin in a certain position and stop it's likely a peripheral cause, but if the spinning doesn't stop or it changes direction it's more likely a central nervous system issue.
Dizziness, including vertigo, occurs among 15% to 20% of adults. Vertigo can have numerous causes, but generally it's more common with age. It's also much more common among women than in men—occuring roughly two to three times more frequently, sometimes potentially related to the hormonal fluctuations of menopause or to migraines.
Dizziness is defined as an altered sense of spatial orientation, and may include feeling like you might fall over. Vertigo is associated with feeling like you are spinning or your surroundings are spinning.
Beyond the word's origin, this article makes clear that fuzzy definitions of the disorder make it confusing for patients to describe it.
This type of vertigo can be triggered by several factors including viruses that cause inflammation in the inner ear, Ménière's disease, or benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, which can cause irregular nerve impulses that cause dizziness.
Unlike peripheral vestibular disease that is caused by factors like inflammation in the inner ear, central vestibular disease involves dysfunction of one or more parts of the central nervous system. Vertigo of this type may last for seconds, hours, or even days. It's typically caused by issues with the brain stem and cerebellum and could be caused by stroke, tumor, and vestibular migraine, among other conditions.
This severe vertigo-causing disorder may cause long and recurrent episodes of vertigo. It also may involve balance issues and hearing loss, tinnitus, and a feeling of fullness in the ear. It typically only affects one ear and is linked to a buildup of too much fluid in the inner ear.
A century after researchers suggested he suffered from epilepsy, some researchers in the 1990s began to support an alternate diagnosis: Ménière's disease, since he had suffered from severe, repeated attacks of disabling vertigo. Still, some researchers remain skeptical of the Ménière's diagnosis. One posits that Van Gogh had temporal epilepsy complicated by his absinthe consumption.
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