Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vogelbum here the some of our weird bodily phenomena kind of makes sense. An ice cream headache, for example, you know what you did to get there, you know you deserved it, and you have absolutely no regrets. Others are a bit of a mystery, like when you stand up quickly and see a dizzying array of stars. The medical term for this is orthostatic hypotension, and the good news is a sudden bout of lightheadedness from jumping out of your seat probably isn't a big deal, oh, whether you realize it or not. In the split second it takes to stand up, blood from your brain travels down toward your feet thanks to you know gravity, Your veins there helpfully accommodate it, and it takes your cardiovascular system a heartbeat or two to adjust to the change in system wide pressure and get the right amount of blood into your brain. Again, this is exacerbated if your pulse is a little slow at the moment, as it might be if you've been sitting quietly for a while. But there are lots of reasons why your pulse might be slow. Your heart rate has to do with your cardiovascular fitness, perhaps obviously, but also your hydration levels, whether you've eaten recently, and any drugs you're taking, including both medications and things like caffeine and alcohol. A normal heart rate when you're at rest can be anywhere from sixty to one hundred beats per minute. Athletes and other people who enjoy a good workout tend to have resting heart rates on the lower end. That's because, in general, exercise makes your heart stronger, allowing it to pump out more blood in fewer beats. This is usually a great thing because it means your heart is strong, but that slow pace can cause dizziness when you stand up suddenly from rest. You may also get a little dizzy when you go from intel cardioaction to your post workout rest phase. If that happens, consider a longer cool down to ease the transition. Conversely, you might get lightheaded if you've been just standing in one place for a while and suddenly walk across the room. Blood can pool a bit in your legs when you're standing around, and your heart might take a second to compensate for the sudden need to supply your muscles with blood as you get moving again. Dehydration can also be a cause. After all, your blood is mostly water, so your blood float can slow down when you haven't had enough liquids. This can happen first thing in the morning, when you're getting out of bed, or when you've been sweating a lot from heat or exercise or both, or if you're like me and you just forget to drink water. Water in general is good. This kind of lightheadedness can also strike after a meal or a sugary snack, which can send your body into what's called rest and digest mode. This is an automatic function of your nervous system that diverts blood flow and energy to your digestive track to help you digest the food you just ate so it drops your blood pressure. It can help to eat smaller and more frequent meals and to limit the amount of sugar and simple carbohydrates like white bread, white rice, and skinless potatoes that you consume at any given setting. If you experience the dizziness of orthostatic hypotension, often try moving slower when you transition between positions or from stillness into motion, and try to keep moving a bit more, avoiding sitting or standing in one place for very long. But let's note here that there is a difference between a slight sense of dizziness and a major case of the spins. If you feel like the room is spinning even once you've stayed stationary for a moment, you might have an inner ear issue called vertigo. And nearly forty percent of American adults experience vertigo at least once over the course of their life, and it can be a big deal, So consult a medical professional right away if you suspect that this is what you're experiencing. The bottom line is that the occasional about of dizziness is probably nothing to worry about. But if you're experiencing something more severe than a slight sensation, or you're feeling lightheaded when you're just sitting, make an appointment with the healthcare providers. They can assess any more serious issues. Let's end on some quick numbers here. The average heart rate is seventy two beats per minute. That means that in the course of one day it beats over one hundred thousand times. In one year, the heart beats almost thirty eight million times, and if you reach the age of seventy you've experienced some two point five billion heartbeats. Today's episode is based on the article ever stand Up and Get Dizzy on HowStuffWorks dot com written by Michelle Constantinovsky. Brain Stuff is ret of iHeartRadio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vogelbum here the some of our weird bodily phenomena kind of makes sense. An ice cream headache, for example, you know what you did to get there, you know you deserved it, and you have absolutely no regrets. Others are a bit of a mystery, like when you stand up quickly and see a dizzying array of stars. The medical term for this is orthostatic hypotension, and the good news is a sudden bout of lightheadedness from jumping out of your seat probably isn't a big deal, oh, whether you realize it or not. In the split second it takes to stand up, blood from your brain travels down toward your feet thanks to you know gravity, Your veins there helpfully accommodate it, and it takes your cardiovascular system a heartbeat or two to adjust to the change in system wide pressure and get the right amount of blood into your brain. Again, this is exacerbated if your pulse is a little slow at the moment, as it might be if you've been sitting quietly for a while. But there are lots of reasons why your pulse might be slow. Your heart rate has to do with your cardiovascular fitness, perhaps obviously, but also your hydration levels, whether you've eaten recently, and any drugs you're taking, including both medications and things like caffeine and alcohol. A normal heart rate when you're at rest can be anywhere from sixty to one hundred beats per minute. Athletes and other people who enjoy a good workout tend to have resting heart rates on the lower end. That's because, in general, exercise makes your heart stronger, allowing it to pump out more blood in fewer beats. This is usually a great thing because it means your heart is strong, but that slow pace can cause dizziness when you stand up suddenly from rest. You may also get a little dizzy when you go from intel cardioaction to your post workout rest phase. If that happens, consider a longer cool down to ease the transition. Conversely, you might get lightheaded if you've been just standing in one place for a while and suddenly walk across the room. Blood can pool a bit in your legs when you're standing around, and your heart might take a second to compensate for the sudden need to supply your muscles with blood as you get moving again. Dehydration can also be a cause. After all, your blood is mostly water, so your blood float can slow down when you haven't had enough liquids. This can happen first thing in the morning, when you're getting out of bed, or when you've been sweating a lot from heat or exercise or both, or if you're like me and you just forget to drink water. Water in general is good. This kind of lightheadedness can also strike after a meal or a sugary snack, which can send your body into what's called rest and digest mode. This is an automatic function of your nervous system that diverts blood flow and energy to your digestive track to help you digest the food you just ate so it drops your blood pressure. It can help to eat smaller and more frequent meals and to limit the amount of sugar and simple carbohydrates like white bread, white rice, and skinless potatoes that you consume at any given setting. If you experience the dizziness of orthostatic hypotension, often try moving slower when you transition between positions or from stillness into motion, and try to keep moving a bit more, avoiding sitting or standing in one place for very long. But let's note here that there is a difference between a slight sense of dizziness and a major case of the spins. If you feel like the room is spinning even once you've stayed stationary for a moment, you might have an inner ear issue called vertigo. And nearly forty percent of American adults experience vertigo at least once over the course of their life, and it can be a big deal, So consult a medical professional right away if you suspect that this is what you're experiencing. The bottom line is that the occasional about of dizziness is probably nothing to worry about. But if you're experiencing something more severe than a slight sensation, or you're feeling lightheaded when you're just sitting, make an appointment with the healthcare providers. They can assess any more serious issues. Let's end on some quick numbers here. The average heart rate is seventy two beats per minute. That means that in the course of one day it beats over one hundred thousand times. In one year, the heart beats almost thirty eight million times, and if you reach the age of seventy you've experienced some two point five billion heartbeats. Today's episode is based on the article ever stand Up and Get Dizzy on HowStuffWorks dot com written by Michelle Constantinovsky. Brain Stuff is ret of iHeartRadio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.