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Home > Archive > Pathology > September 2006 > Can foul odors actually cause an individual to faint?
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Can foul odors actually cause an individual to faint?
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| Radium 2006-09-23, 4:27 pm |
| Hi:
I am well aware that extreme pain can cause an individual to faint due
to its effects on his/her autonomic nervous system.
What about odors? I've heard that saying "open a can of rotten meat and
the stench will knock you out". Is this true? Can excruciatingly foul
odors result in an autonomic reaction that causes the victim to faint?
Thanks,
Radium
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| r norman 2006-09-23, 4:27 pm |
| On 23 Sep 2006 14:15:52 -0700, "Radium" <glucegen1@excite.com> wrote:
>Hi:
>
>I am well aware that extreme pain can cause an individual to faint due
>to its effects on his/her autonomic nervous system.
>
>What about odors? I've heard that saying "open a can of rotten meat and
>the stench will knock you out". Is this true? Can excruciatingly foul
>odors result in an autonomic reaction that causes the victim to faint?
>
Tradition has it that Victorian ladies would faint ("swoon" is a more
appropriate word) merely by hearing something that would suggest an
improper thought.
More seriously, I have fainted (in this case, "syncope" is the more
correct description) merely by getting out of bed and standing up.
The next day, the hospital let me out after finding nothing
specifically wrong with me.
There are lots of things that can cause temporary loss of
consciousness by a sudden loss of perfusion to the brain.
| |
| Jason Johnson 2006-09-23, 9:32 pm |
| In article <1159046152.460199.168050@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
"Radium" <glucegen1@excite.com> wrote:
Hi:
I am well aware that extreme pain can cause an individual to faint due
to its effects on his/her autonomic nervous system.
What about odors? I've heard that saying "open a can of rotten meat and
the stench will knock you out". Is this true? Can excruciatingly foul
odors result in an autonomic reaction that causes the victim to faint?
Thanks,
Radium
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Radium,
I am not an expert but will take a guess. For those people that faint on a
regular basis--due to health problems--it's my guess that they may faint
as a result of smelling foul odors. I have heard stories about people that
have fainted when they just found out that their mate or child was killed.
I even heard one story about a local man that had black hair but it turned
gray when he found out that his wife was killed in an accident. I was a
child at the time and did not do any research to determine whether or not
that rumor was true. I did see that man after I heard the story and his
hair was gray so I believed the story at that time.
Jason
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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| Radium 2006-09-23, 9:32 pm |
|
r norman wrote:
> More seriously, I have fainted (in this case, "syncope" is the more
> correct description) merely by getting out of bed and standing up.
> The next day, the hospital let me out after finding nothing
> specifically wrong with me.
What you are describing is postural hypotension. When you suddenly
stand after laying or sitting down, blood supply to the head rapidly
decreases. I hear about these cases all the time -- no surprise to me
that sudden change in position causes fainting in some.
>
> There are lots of things that can cause temporary loss of
> consciousness by a sudden loss of perfusion to the brain.
Okay, but I don't understand that mechanism as how a foul odor can
cause a syncope. Is it the same mechanism in which pain causes
fainting? If not, then what is the mechanism in which stench leads to
faint?
| |
| Radium 2006-09-23, 9:32 pm |
|
Jason Johnson wrote:
> In article <1159046152.460199.168050@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
> "Radium" <glucegen1@excite.com> wrote:
>
> Hi:
>
> I am well aware that extreme pain can cause an individual to faint due
> to its effects on his/her autonomic nervous system.
>
> What about odors? I've heard that saying "open a can of rotten meat and
> the stench will knock you out". Is this true? Can excruciatingly foul
> odors result in an autonomic reaction that causes the victim to faint?
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Radium
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Radium,
> I am not an expert but will take a guess. For those people that faint on a
> regular basis--due to health problems--it's my guess that they may faint
> as a result of smelling foul odors.
I hear about this a lot but I don't understand the mechanism. Perhaps
its the extreme digust [a type of emotion] resulting from the
perception of the foul odor.
>I have heard stories about people that
> have fainted when they just found out that their mate or child was killed.
Psychogenic shock. The intense emotional stress of losing a loved one
can lead to a brief but significant decrease in blood pressure via
neurally-mediated syncope.
> I even heard one story about a local man that had black hair but it turned
> gray when he found out that his wife was killed in an accident. I was a
> child at the time and did not do any research to determine whether or not
> that rumor was true. I did see that man after I heard the story and his
> hair was gray so I believed the story at that time.
> Jason
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh I've heard countless stories of hair turning grey when the
individual faces an emotional crisis.
| |
| Jason Johnson 2006-09-24, 2:31 am |
| In article <1159058693.186406.231660@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
"Radium" <glucegen1@excite.com> wrote:
Jason Johnson wrote:
> In article <1159046152.460199.168050@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
> "Radium" <glucegen1@excite.com> wrote:
>
> Hi:
>
> I am well aware that extreme pain can cause an individual to faint due
> to its effects on his/her autonomic nervous system.
>
> What about odors? I've heard that saying "open a can of rotten meat and
> the stench will knock you out". Is this true? Can excruciatingly foul
> odors result in an autonomic reaction that causes the victim to faint?
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Radium
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Radium,
> I am not an expert but will take a guess. For those people that faint on a
> regular basis--due to health problems--it's my guess that they may faint
> as a result of smelling foul odors.
I hear about this a lot but I don't understand the mechanism. Perhaps
its the extreme digust [a type of emotion] resulting from the
perception of the foul odor.
>I have heard stories about people that
> have fainted when they just found out that their mate or child was killed.
Psychogenic shock. The intense emotional stress of losing a loved one
can lead to a brief but significant decrease in blood pressure via
neurally-mediated syncope.
> I even heard one story about a local man that had black hair but it turned
> gray when he found out that his wife was killed in an accident. I was a
> child at the time and did not do any research to determine whether or not
> that rumor was true. I did see that man after I heard the story and his
> hair was gray so I believed the story at that time.
> Jason
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh I've heard countless stories of hair turning grey when the
individual faces an emotional crisis.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are those stories true or false? Also, if they are true--could psychogenic
shock cause hair to change from black to grey in one day or less? I would
have to see it happen before I believed that it does happen.
Jason
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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| Juliejulez 2006-09-24, 4:26 pm |
| Hi,
Radium, do you normally feel faint, or about to faint only when foul
odors are present? Its rather strange, mainly because we live in a
society of chemicals floating around, between the automobiles to the
air freshners in our homes.
Peace and be well
Julez
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| Radium 2006-09-24, 4:26 pm |
|
Juliejulez wrote:
> Hi,
> Radium, do you normally feel faint, or about to faint only when foul
> odors are present?
Absolutely not.
I was just curious about why some individuals pass out when exposed to
extremely foul smells. I guess its a vasovagal syncope, I could be
wrong though.
> Its rather strange, mainly because we live in a
> society of chemicals floating around, between the automobiles to the
> air freshners in our homes.
>
> Peace and be well
> Julez
| |
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| "Radium" <glucegen1@excite.com> wrote in message
> What about odors? I've heard that saying "open a can of rotten meat
> and
> the stench will knock you out". Is this true? Can excruciatingly
> foul
> odors result in an autonomic reaction that causes the victim to
> faint?
Only the stench of crossposters.
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