Dizziness is very often assumed to be the result of inner ear trouble, but new research is pointing in another direction.
Dr. Otto Maarsingh and his colleagues of VU University Medical Center in the Netherlands report that dizziness in the elderly is most often caused by cardiovascular disease rather than inner ear disturbance.
The team of researchers caution that dizziness is difficult to diagnose, and many patients, particularly amongst the elderly, may be experiencing more than one contributory cause.
"Dizziness is a diagnostic challenge because it depends on self-report and can have many causes, the researchers said. Yet 30% of patients over age 65 experience some form of the condition and seek care from their doctors."
This research indicates that of the elderly patients between the ages of 65 to 95 years, 57 percent were experiencing dizziness due to cardiovascular disease, 23 percent due to adverse drug effects, 14 percent from peripheral vestibular disease (inner ear), and 10 percent from psychiatric illness.
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