Nomenclature and Epidemiology

Abstract

Vertigo is a malady for all ages. It is an enigma. It is also a common clinical condition seen by physicians of many specialties on almost daily basis. The word vertigo originates from a Latin word ‘vertere’ which means ‘to turn’. It has no specific definition per se. Being a broad-based entity, it has been defined in more than one ways. Perhaps the commonest definition is that it is a ‘subjective sense of movement of objects’. It has also been called a ‘hallucination of movement’ and even a ‘false sense of movement of things and people’. Perhaps the most suitable definition could be ‘an illusion of movement’. It basically implies that as long as the movement described by the patient is in his perception and not physically present, it may be called vertigo. It is a ‘perception and not a reality’.