Gower syndrome (situational syncope)
The temporary loss of consciousness in particular kinds of situations. (Syncope is temporary loss of consciousness or, in plain English, fainting). The situations that trigger this reaction are diverse and include having blood drawn, straining while urinating or defecating or coughing. The reaction also can be due to the emotional stress of fear or pain.
With Gower syndrome, people often become pale and feel nauseated, sweaty, and weak just before they lose consciousness.
Gower syndrome is caused by a reflex of the involuntary nervous system called the vasovagal reaction. The vasovagal reaction leads the heart to slow down (bradycardia) and, at the same time, it leads the nerves to the blood vessels in the legs to permit those vessels to dilate (widen). The result is that the heart puts out less blood, the blood pressure drops, and what blood is circulating tends to go into the legs rather than to the head. The brain is deprived of oxygen and the fainting episode occurs.
A vasovagal reaction is also called a vasovagal attack. Gower syndrome is synonymous with situational syncope, vasovagal syncope, and vasodepressor syncope. Sir William Richard Gower (1845-1915) was a famous English neurologist whose name is also associated with a sign, a solution, another syndrome, and a tract in the central nervous system.
Read Also:
- GPO
GPO in a healthcare context (and many other contexts) a GPO is a Group Purchasing Organization. A medical group purchasing organization might be able to bring the purchasing power and negotiating leverage of large medical consortiums or hospital systems to doctors’ offices.
- Graft
Healthy skin, bone, kidney, liver, or other tissue that is taken from one part of the body to replace diseased or injured tissue removed from another part of the body. For example, skin grafts can be used to cover areas of skin that have been burned.
- Graft-versus-host disease
an early form called acute GVHD that occurs soon after the transplant when the white cells are on the rise, and a late form called chronic GVHD. Acute GVHD typically occurs within the first three months after a transplant and can affect the skin, liver, stomach, and/or intestines. The earliest sign is usually a rash […]
- Gram (measure)
A unit of measurement of weight and mass in the metric system. In weight, a gram is equal to a thousandth of a kilogram. In mass, a gram is equal to a thousandth of a liter (one cubic centimeter) of water at 4 degrees centigrade. The word “gram” comes from the Late Latin “gramma” meaning […]
- Gram stain
The Danish bacteriologist J.M.C. Gram (1853-1938) devised a method of staining bacteria using a dye called crystal (gentian) violet. Gram’s method helps distinguish between different types of bacteria. The gram-staining characteristics of bacteria are denoted as positive or negative, depending upon whether the bacteria take up and retain the crystal violet stain or not. Gram-positive […]