Hungry fainting often occurs in people who follow a too strict diet. Sometimes women, wanting to quickly lose weight, arrange fasting days for themselves. Some in the fight against extra pounds completely refuse food for some time. The human body reacts sharply at first to the absence or lack of food. There is a constant feeling of hunger, nausea, sucking "under the spoon". On such days there is a serious danger of suddenly fainting from a lack of nutrients. However, after some time, the body adapts to the lack of food. Feeling normal, but against the background of full he alth, a person may suddenly lose consciousness from hunger.
What is fainting
Finning is a loss of consciousness that lasts for a short time. In medicine, this is defined as a syncopal state ("syncope" in Greek means "chopping"). It is not a disease in itself, but always indicates a sharp troublein the body. A person loses consciousness due to the fact that the central nervous system receives insufficient oxygen. Under conditions of hypoxia, the brain "turns off" and fainting occurs.
Physiological causes of loss of consciousness from hunger
What is the cause of lack of oxygen and disorder of consciousness in case of malnutrition? Most often, a person loses consciousness due to a deficiency of glucose in the blood. Prolonged fasting leads to a drop in sugar levels, which causes hypoxia of the central nervous system. In addition, with a lack of food, toxins and toxins enter the bloodstream. 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 causes of hunger fainting:
- This condition is often 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 imbalance in the diet, and the body begins to draw the missing substances from internal resources. As a result, brain cells experience hypoxia.
- A person can eat enough, but often experience stressful situations or experience increased physical activity. This requires additional energy costs, the body begins to intensively spend kilocalories. All systems and organs have to work with increased load in order to provide the brain with oxygen. However, this is not alwayssucceeds, and then the central nervous system is turned off, and fainting sets in.
- 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, there is a discrepancy between the intake of calories, carbohydrates, fats and energy expenditure of the body.
- In diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, the absorption of nutrients is disturbed, which can cause loss of consciousness from hunger, even if a person does not deny himself food.
- The systematic abuse of sugary carbonated drinks can cause fainting. Water with gas and sweeteners washes away beneficial trace elements from the body, and this leads to a lack of nutrients and loss of consciousness.
- 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 the position of the body, for example when standing up. This, too, can be a form of starvation if it doesn't provide enough nutrients.
After how many days of fasting does fainting occur
Patients practicing therapeutic fasting are interested in how soon 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 without food for days without getting syncope.condition. Others lose consciousness even with a slight violation of the usual diet.
Here a lot depends on the physique of the person. Lean people have a small amount of fat reserves. They have a hungry syncope occurs after 1 day of complete refusal to eat. Thick and overweight people may lose consciousness on the third or fourth day of fasting, as the first time the body will draw nutrients from its own reserves.
Presyncope
Usually a person does not pass out suddenly. A few minutes before the syncope, the state of he alth deteriorates sharply, and the first signs of a hungry faint come:
- dizziness;
- cold sweat;
- nausea;
- cloudy mind;
- 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 has black dots and fogging in the field of vision, while the pupil stops responding to light. The skin turns pale and covered with sweat. Approximately 20 seconds after visual disturbances, a hungry faint begins.
Symptoms of loss of consciousness during hunger
Food syncope usually doesn't last long. In this case, the following symptoms of hunger fainting are observed:
- Weakness gradually increases, which turns into a loss of consciousness.
- A person stops responding toenvironment and stimuli, he has no reflexes.
- Sharply decreased muscle tone.
- Blood pressure drops, heart rate drops. A weak pulse is heard.
- Possible involuntary release of urine and stool.
This state usually lasts no more than 20 seconds, the person completely recovers from fainting within 4 - 5 minutes.
First Aid
First aid should be provided as soon as possible for hunger fainting. Syncope itself is not dangerous. But falling during unconsciousness can lead to injury. In addition, residual neurological disorders are possible due to cerebral hypoxia during a hungry syncope. What to do if a person has fallen and is unconscious due to lack of nutrition? You need to take the following actions:
- All clothing should be unbuttoned on the patient, this will ensure the flow of oxygen.
- The patient should be laid so that the legs are higher than the body.
- The head is turned to one side so that the tongue does not burn and the airways do not block.
- Then you need to give a sniff of cotton wool soaked in ammonia. If there is no such medicine, then you can rub the whiskey strongly with a solution of vinegar or cologne. You can also help the patient by pressing hard on the area of the face between the nose and upper lip.
- As soon as a person regains consciousness, he should be given sweet tea or coffee to drink. After 30 minutes, the patient must be fed.
What not to do when fainting from hunger
The most common mistake in starvation syncope is to eat a large meal soon after passing out. It seems to others that if a person has been without food for a long time, then he should be fed tightly. This is a pretty dangerous misconception. Overeating after a fast 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 hunger.
Hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia is a condition similar to fainting due to hunger. It develops in diabetic patients due to an overdose of insulin. As a result, the level of glucose in the blood drops sharply. He feels such symptoms as a strong feeling of hunger, excessive sweating, weakness, nausea. In general, the signs of hypoglycemic syncope are similar to those of fainting from hunger.
When hypoglycemia approaches, it is necessary to give the patient any sweetness: candy, glucose tablets, a sugar cube. If this condition continues for more than 10 minutes, then you need to call a doctor.
Prevention
If a person has a tendency to faint, then too rigid diets are contraindicated for him. It is necessary to avoid fasting days, a diet with monotonous food, and even more so complete starvation.
Wowhile following a diet for weight loss, you should not make sudden movements, expose yourself to physical and moral overload. You can not consume large quantities of sweet carbonated drinks. If a person has to comply with drastic dietary restrictions, then it is useful to always have a candy or a chocolate bar with you. This will help you avoid feeling sick and fainting from malnutrition.
