On vertigo or dizziness : its causes, importance as a symptom, and treatment : thesis for the degree of Doctor of Medicine / by J.B. Bradbury.

  • John Buckley Bradbury
Date:
1870
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On vertigo or dizziness : its causes, importance as a symptom, and treatment : thesis for the degree of Doctor of Medicine / by J.B. Bradbury. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    movements of vertigo.” Muller’s Physiology by Baly, Vol. I. p. 848. A better explanation, and one which is supported by what takes place in fainting and anaemia, has been given by Todd and Bowman (.Physiological Anatomy, Vol. I. p. 369). These physiologists attribute the sensation of giddi- ness to the irregular distribution of blood to various parts of the brain, or to an alteration in the quality of the blood. The giddiness which precedes fainting is due to a tempo- rary deficiency in the supply of blood to the head. If the head of the patient be placed lower than any other part of the body, the fainting fit may be prevented, or even if the horizontal position be adopted the impending syncope will pass off. Anaemic patients frequently feel giddy on rising from the recumbent to the upright position, owing either to the influence of gravity on the blood contained in the cerebral vessels, or to the heart’s action being too feeble to fill the cerebral blood-vessels. [Drs Kellie, Abercrombie, and John Reid, maintained that the quantity of blood in the cerebral vessels is not affected by gravitation, and consequently is uninfluenced by the posture of the person. Drs Burrows and Donders hold views directly opposite to these.] Giddiness was one of the effects of compressing the carotids in six men, as related by Drs Kussmaul and Ten- ner. (On Epileptic Convulsions from Hcemorrhage. New Sydenham Society, 1859, p. 28.) In all the six men there was pallor of the countenance; first contraction, then dila- tation of the pupils; slow, deep and sighing respiration; then there was giddiness, staggering, and unconsciousness; and the patients would have fallen had they not been supported. A sudden diminution of pressure upon the encephalon by blood circulating through it is thus proved experimen- tally to be one of the causes of vertigo; the same result