Shock happens when there is insufficient circulation of oxygen in your body. The lack of oxygen causes your vital organs and tissues to shut down. It typically occurs when your blood pressure falls to a very low level, either from reduced cardiac output, or from reduced effective circulating blood volume. As your blood pressure falls, your brain and other organs do not get enough blood or oxygen to function, and they begin to fail. Shock can arise from a number of causes. It is a life-threatening medical emergency and must be treated early to avoid serious complications and even death.
Common signs and symptoms of shock include:
In septic shock (from overwhelming blood infection): shaking chills, rapid temperature increase, warm, flushed skin, and rapid pulse.
In shock related to heart problems: lung congestion, rapid pulse, heart murmur, and enlarged neck veins.
Shock can have several causes. Doctors classify shock according to categories:
The following conditions and characteristics increase the risk for shock:
Shock is an emergency and requires immediate conventional treatment. Your health care provider will diagnose shock based on your symptoms and any information about underlying disease or recent injury. Your provider will check blood pressure, assess mental status (memory, orientation, and alertness), measure urine output, and order blood tests to check heart, lung, and kidney function, and search for evidence of sepsis (blood infection). You may also undergo imaging tests and other procedures, such as x-ray, electrocardiography (ECG), echocardiography, and ultrasonography, to check the heart.
If you have heart disease or another condition that makes you susceptible to shock, you should seek treatment for that condition. If you have severe allergies, avoid substances that may trigger anaphylactic shock and carry self-injectable epinephrine to treat anaphylaxis.
The main goals of treatment are to maintain blood pressure and to make sure the person's vital organs get enough blood and oxygen. First aid for shock includes having the person lie on their back, raising their legs to help blood return to the heart, stopping any bleeding, covering them with a coat or blanket to ensure warmth, and performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), if needed. Emergency medical staff will administer oxygen, and in the case of hypovolemic and septic shock, intravenous fluids.
Doctors may prescribe the following medications to treat shock:
Shock is always life threatening and requires emergency conventional medical care. Some complementary and alternative therapies (CAM), however, may be used along with conventional treatment after a person's condition stabilizes, to help prevent shock. For instance, certain nutrients may help protect against the harmful effects of shock and improve the outcome of conventional treatment.
Oxidative stress (damage to cells caused by the body's normal use of oxygen) may play a role in shock. Several studies show that antioxidants may protect against some types of shock, however, most of these studies have been done in animal. It is not known whether these supplements will also benefit humans.
You may address nutritional deficiencies with the following supplements:
Shock always requires emergency conventional medical treatment. It should never be treated with herbs. Talk to your doctor before taking any herbs to treat or prevent shock.
No scientific studies have evaluated homeopathic remedies for the treatment of shock, however, homeopathic doctors often use the remedy, aconite, for emergency conditions. In homeopathic remedies, aconite is highly diluted, and only a trace amount of the herb is present, so it is not toxic in a homeopathic formulation.
If someone suffering from shock receives immediate treatment, the prognosis is good. Immediate treatment for anaphylactic shock, for example, usually results in complete recovery. But any case of shock is life threatening, regardless of its cause, particularly in the elderly. Shock often causes organ damage (including the kidneys, brain, and liver), cardiac arrest, and respiratory failure. More than 90% of young, otherwise healthy people with hypovolemic shock survive with appropriate treatment. In comparison, septic shock, or shock associated with heart problems, can have substantially worse mortality rates, even with optimal care.
If you are suffering from shock, you will likely be admitted to intensive care. Following treatment, your health care provider will carefully monitor your condition, including temperature, blood pressure, heart function, urine flow, and blood chemistry.
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Reviewed By: Steven D. Ehrlich, NMD, Solutions Acupuncture, a private practice specializing in complementary and alternative medicine, Phoenix, AZ. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare.
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