WATCH: A Calgary study is trying to better understand why people faint. Some experience this condition on a regular basis and doctors don’t know why. Heather Yourex reports.
CALGARY – For the last two years, Angel Redisky has been careful to never go anywhere alone.
The 46-year-old experienced her first fainting spell in April of 2013. Since then, she estimates she faints once every 10 days.
“Nobody really has an explanation as to why it’s happening. There’s no magic pill.”
Thirty-five to 40 per cent of the population will faint at some point in their lives, but for most people it will happen only once or twice. Fainting can be caused by overheating or dehydration; it can also be a reflex to something like the sight of blood. For 10 per cent of people, however, fainting is a much more serious problem.
“The ones we are more concerned about are the ones who are fainting much more frequently, and they don’t have any warning they’re going down,” said Dr. Robert Sheldon, a cardiologist and researcher with the University of Calgary. “So there’s no way they can protect themselves.”
Previous research has found people whose parents faint are much more likely to experience fainting themselves, but whether that means fainting has a genetic cause is still not known. Dr. Sheldon is now looking to answer that question by comparing the genes of 1,000 people who faint with 1,000 who don’t.
“We’re trying to figure out why people are fainting so we can help them with it and find ways to prevent it,” said Sheldon.
Researchers are still recruiting participants. For more information, contact Cindy Eronmwon at 403-220-8897 or e-mail coeronmw@ucalgary.ca.
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