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Fainting or syncope is a temporary loss of consciousness. It is usually caused by a temporary deficiency in the blood supply to the brain, often following a sudden drop in blood pressure. Fainting can sometimes be a sign of a more serious condition.

People of any age can faint, but elderly persons more often have a serious underlying cause. The biggest risk is in people with heart disease, especially those with congestive heart failure or coronary heart disease.

Several causes and risk factors for fainting include anemia or a low red blood cell count, arrhythmias or irregular heartbeats, carotid stenosis which is narrowing of the arteries supplying blood to the brain, congestive heart failure, a condition in which a weakened heart fails to pump enough blood to body organs, hypoglycaemia which is a low blood sugar that occurs most often in people with diabetes, low oxygen in the blood from any cause, orthostatic hypotension or low blood pressure that is caused by standing up too quickly and pulmonary embolus which is a blood clot in the arteries supplying the lungs.

Other factors that can cause fainting are dehydration, severe fatigue, pregnancy, drugs to treat high blood pressure, strong feelings of emotion, distress or shock, very hot environment, marked fear, empty stomach or hunger, severe coughing, straining to urinate or have a bowel movement, consumption of alcohol or marijuana, swallowing and high sexual arousal.

A faint may begin with a feeling of weakness, dread, giddiness, dizziness, or nausea. Hold the person before he or she falls. If a victim who is about to faint can lie down right away without wasting time, he or she may not lose consciousness.

If you feel faintish, you must lie down or sit down by placing your head between your knees.

If someone else faints, put the person on the recovery position; check the person’s airway to be sure it is clear and watch for any vomiting. Then check for signs of circulation such as breathing, coughing or movement.

Loosen any tight clothing, apply moist towels in the person’s face and neck, and keep the victim warm especially if the surrounding is chilly. The victim should not be given food or drink, not even water until he or she becomes fully conscious.

People who faint generally lose muscle tone and fall to the ground. At this stage the heart pumps out the blood without having to fight the gravity. Those who faint have a relaxed body, which uses less energy. This also makes it easier for the heart to pump blood to the brain.

If the person has stopped breathing, please call the ambulance and give CPR.

Although you do not have to see a doctor if you have fainted one time and you are in good health, but you must see a doctor if your fainting is associated with irregular heart beat, chest pain, shortness of breath, blurred vision, confusion, difficulty in talking, fainting when you turn your head and fainting more than once within a short period.

The treatment for vasovagal syncope, which is the common faint that may be experienced by normal persons with no evidence of heart disease, focuses on avoidance of triggers, restoring blood flow to the brain and preventing further syncope. If a person is likely to get a trigger, he or she should increase the consumption of salt and fluids to increase blood volume. Patients should be educated on how to respond to further episodes of syncope if they experience prodromal warning signs. They should lie down and raise their legs or sit down and lower their heads to increase blood flow to the brain. While graded compression stockings may be helpful, patients may be taught certain orthostatic exercises which have been proven to improve symptoms with recurrent vasovagal syncope.

A new way to ward off a spell of the dizzies is by crossing your legs and squeezing them, says a recent study in Circulation. One cause can be a sudden drop in your blood pressure. Squeezing your legs helps raise the blood pressure.