Strange Vertigo Symptoms in the Elderly

Vertigo affects people of all ages.

But a new study in the Journal of Internal Medicine reveals that people over 60 experience vertigo differently than younger people.

This means they’re often misdiagnosed and given the wrong treatment options.

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is a condition characterized by brief episodes of mild to intense dizziness, often triggered by changes in the position of the head. It can affect people of any age, but is it the same across all age groups?

The researchers analyzed the medical records of 6,807 patients diagnosed with BPPV between January 2019 and October 2021.

They examined demographic information, clinical symptoms from a structured medical history questionnaire, and the time interval from the onset of BPPV symptoms to diagnosis.

The patients were divided into two groups: the young and middle-aged group (under 65 years old) and the older group (65 years or older).

The mean age of the older group was 71, with ages ranging between 65 and 92 years, while the mean age of the younger group was 49, with ages ranging between 18 and 64 years.

Upon analyzing the data, the researchers found significant differences between the two groups:

1. The older group experienced fewer vertigo symptoms than the younger group: 42.5% versus 49.1%.

2. The incidence of vertigo triggered by changes in the position of the head or body was lower in the older group (52.4%) than in the younger group (58.7%).

3. The older group also reported fewer autonomic symptoms (10.1% versus 12.4%). Autonomic symptoms included heart palpitations, nausea, vomiting, temperature sensitivity in extremities, etc.

4. Older patients reported higher rates of hearing loss (11.8% versus 7.8%).

5. Older patients also reported more sleep disorders (18.5% versus 15.2%) compared to their younger counterparts.

6. A larger percentage of older patients (55.0%) had a longer wait time for diagnosis compared to the younger and middle-aged patients (38.5%).

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that older patients with vertigo often exhibit more atypical symptoms compared to younger, middle-aged patients. This lengthens the time to receive a diagnosis.

This means that older patients who complain of dizziness should receive positional testing to confirm the possibility of BPPV, even if their clinical symptoms are not typical of the condition.

But no matter your age or type of vertigo, it can be healed in a few minutes using the easy vertigo exercises found here…