At the end of April, an elderly man woke up in the morning, got up from bed quickly, stood by the bed to get dressed, and suddenly blacked out and fell to the ground unconscious. His wife hurriedly took him to the hospital. Due to breathing difficulties and confusion, the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit and was out of danger after 24 hours.
Although he regained consciousness, the patient could not move below the neck. It turned out that the elderly man had cervical spondylosis, and the fall exacerbated the condition, causing cervical fracture and dislocation, and he was diagnosed with high paraplegia.
The patient had always been healthy, so why did he suddenly faint? When an elderly person's position changes suddenly, quickly moving from lying down to sitting, or even getting out of bed, blood pressure changes rapidly, which can cause fainting and falls.
In addition to slippery floors and exercise, hypoglycemia, orthostatic hypotension, cerebral ischemia, and stroke are common causes of sudden falls in the elderly.
Doctors remind that the elderly should avoid getting up too quickly, should not stand up suddenly after squatting, and should rely on nearby objects for support and rise slowly in stages. Especially when getting up, it is best to follow the rule of "better slow by three minutes than rush one second". First, lie flat for one minute, then sit on the bed for one minute, move the upper limbs slightly, put the feet down and sit by the bed for one minute, and then slowly get up.