Blackouts

Blackouts, collapses, faints, fits dizziness and lightheadedness.

These are common symptoms that may be due to many medical disorders. They are common: 1 in 4 people will blackout at some time in their life. In most cases the cause is easily found and treated.

Sometimes they can be due to serious conditions so it is important to tell your doctor. You will need some basic tests to rule out a serious cause. Sometimes you will need to be referred to a specialist.

The most common cause of a blackout is syncope the medical word for a blackout faint or collapse caused by a brief reduction in blood supply to the brain.

Syncope usually occurs due to:

Did you know?
People who faint can have fitting movements that last up to one minute. They don’t have epilepsy – it happens because the blood flow to the brain is reduced due to very low blood pressure.

Information for patients covers the following areas :

 

Blackouts