Scientists discover that sniffing, gasping can prevent faints
People can now manage unexpected faints caused by prolonged standing or standing up quickly through sniffing and gasping. New research shows that strong and forced inhalation can prevent faints as it interrupts drops in blood pressure and heart rate.
The researchers analysed the most common type of fainting, vasovagal syncope, which is considered to have a serious impact on the quality of life. Vasovagal syncope causes the blood pressure and heart rate to fall, leading to a brief loss of consciousness.
Fainting can increase the risk of people being injured when they fall, the researchers said. Depression has been also found to be common in patients with recurrent fainting.
The European Society of Cardiology described vasovagal syncope as the abnormality in the reflex actions of a person, controlled by the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS is composed of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, which affect the cardiovascular system. Heart rate and blood pressure tend to increase through sympathetic actions, while parasympathetic actions have an opposite effect.
For the study, the researchers conducted a head-up tilt test on two women, aged 56 and 62, who had experienced vasovagal syncope. In the test, the researchers used a table that rapidly tilts to a 60-degree angle, mimicking the effect of standing up quickly.
During the experiment, the participants were asked to sniff or gasp twice with their mouths closed and then breathe. The researchers found that immediately sniffing and gasping helped the blood pressure and heart rate of the patients not to drop, thereby preventing fainting.
"Our test, which is like standing up quickly, previously led to falls in blood pressure and heart rate and subsequent syncope in these patients. But strong and forced inhalation by sniffing or gasping seemed to prevent these drops and they did not faint," said Dr Marta Bavolarova, a cardiologist at Louis Pasteur University Hospital in Kosice, Slovak Republic, in a press release. "This stops fainting at the highest level," she added.
However, Bavolarova still advises patients with recurrent fainting to not stand up quickly and avoid standing for long periods of time. The researchers are aiming to conduct the test in a larger number of patients to confirm the current findings.
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