Dizziness after standing may hint at higher risk of early death
Dizzy spells that occur after youve been standing for a few minutes might be an early warning sign of a serious neurological disease and an increased risk of premature death, a Harvard study has found. For some people, this dizziness is caused by a gradual drop in blood pressure. And this suggests the nervous system is failing and isnt maintaining blood pressure while youre standing, said lead author Dr. Christopher Gibbons, an associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
The condition is called orthostatic hypotension, and between 29 percent and 64 percent of people suffering from this blood pressure decline died during the 10-year study, depending on how quickly they became dizzy. By comparison, only 9 percent of healthy people in the studys control group died.
But, this studys findings dont mean that everyone who becomes dizzy while standing needs to be alarmed. There are a number of other causes of dizziness, including diabetes, dehydration, an inner ear problem or blood pressure medication, Gibbons said.
Dr. Paul Wright, chair of neurology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y., added, Patients should not be scared that if their blood pressure drops due to medication or dehydration that they are at a high risk of mortality.
Its also important to note that the new study was designed to find an association between orthostatic hypotension and a risk of early death; it cannot prove a cause-and-effect relationship.
Findings from the study were published online Sept. 23 in the journal Neurology.
Gibbons and his colleagues looked at both orthostatic hypotension (OH) and delayed orthostatic hypotension (DOH). OH is defined as a drop in blood pressure that occurs within three minutes of standing, while DOH is a blood pressure decline that takes place after three minutes of standing, according to background information in the study.
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