< b>Defecation syncope: The temporary loss of consciousness (syncope) upon
defecating (having a bowel movement). Syncope is the 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 (micturition syncope)
or defecating, coughing or swallowing. The reaction also can be due to the emotional
stress of fear or pain.
Under these conditions, people often become pale and feel nauseated, sweaty,
and weak just before they lose consciousness.
Situational syncope 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 then deprived of oxygen, and the fainting
episode occurs.
The vasovagal reaction is also called a vasovagal attack. And situational syncope
is also called vasovagal syncope, vasodepressor syncope, and Gower syndrome after
Sir William Richard Gower (1845-1915), a famous English neurologist whose name is
also associated with a sign, a solution, another syndrome, and a tract in the central
nervous system.
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