Melbourne, Australia (PRWEB) August 29, 2013 -- The Diamond Valley Brain Centre in Melbourne, Australia today highlighted its infographic series that it produced to help patients, clinicians and health science students gain a better understanding of the common causes of vertigo and dizziness.
Vertigo and dizziness are common conditions that are thought to account for 4% of hospital emergency department costs in the USA. The total costs associated with this are exceeding $4 billion a year.(1) Much of this cost is thought to be due to brain imaging studies which often of questionable value. Dr Holmes from the Diamond Valley Brain Centre commented, “Many of the common forms of vertigo have clear and unique clinical presentations which when Doctors understand them can lead to a quick diagnosis, and in many types of vertigo, an effective treatment.”
To assist in raising awareness of these conditions the Centre produced the infographics. An infographic is a visual image to represent or convey information or data. The visual nature of the graphic often makes it easier for the viewer to appreciate the patterns or trends in the data.(2) This can be particularly important for medicine and other health sciences students who have a lot of information to assume about many conditions in a short period of time.
The graphics review the 3 most common causes of vertigo. The first reviews the condition BPPV or benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. In most cases this condition responds well to a treatment called the Epley manoeuvre.
The second graphic illustrates a condition known as Meniere’s Disease, named after the French physician Meniere who first described the disease. The final graphic reviews the condition Vestibular Neuritis, which is due to a viral infection of the inner ear or nerve from the ear to the brain. This condition can produce BPPV as a side effect.
The infographics are available on the Diamond Valley Brain Centre’s website. The Centre encourages readers to share the graphics to help sufferers achieve relief.
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23859582
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infographic
Matthew Holmes, Diamond Valley Brain Centre, http://dvbc.com.au, 61 (0) 3 9435 2887, [email protected]
SOURCE Diamond Valley Brain Centre
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