What is a seizure?
A seizure is a transient abnormality in muscular movement, behavior, perception, or state of consciousness caused by an uncontrolled electrical activity between nerve cells.
A seizure occurs when neurons in your brain improperly or excessively activate for a few seconds, causing clinical alterations in behavior, motor control, autonomic function, and sensory perception.
Seizures aren't all the same. A convulsion might occur as a single occurrence due to an immediate cause, such as medicine. Epilepsy is a condition in which a person experiences recurrent seizures.
Seizures can occur due to epilepsy or other medical conditions such as hypoglycemia, the sudden withdrawal of drugs, electrolyte imbalances, toxins, or high temperatures.
A person suffering from epilepsy has deviance in their brain structure or physiology. Those who have seizures but aren’t epileptic have random seizures for unexplained reasons or due to other severe medical conditions. Seizures are the most common symptom of epilepsy, but not all seizures are considered epilepsy.
Associated Anatomy:
Temporal lobes of the Brain
Causes of Seizure
The brain's nerves transmit and receive electrical impulses that allow these cells to interact. A seizure can be caused by anything that disturbs these communication routes. Abnormal electrical activity in the brain causes all sorts of convulsions.
Seizures can be caused by a variety of factors, including:
- Brain tumor
- Coronary artery disease
- Epilepsy
- Meningitis
- Electric shock
- Encephalitis
- Stroke
- Insomnia
- High Fever
- Head trauma
- Multiple sclerosis
- Cancer
- Phenylketonuria
- Malignant hypertension
- Congenital brain defects
- Abnormal glucose levels
Idiopathic seizures are most common in children and young adults, but they can affect any age group. One must be aware of the history of epilepsy or convulsions in the family.
Epilepsy is a disorder that occurs when seizures frequently occur even after the underlying problem has been handled.
Seizure Signs Or Symptoms
These can range from minor to severe, depending on the kind of seizure. Some indications or symptoms of a seizure include:
- Sudden falling
- Temporary perplexity
- Jerking actions of the arms and legs
- Unconsciousness
- Sweating
- Unexpected mood swings
- Cognitive or emotional disorders.
- Anxiousness
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Rapid blinking
- A throbbing headache
Possible Seizure Treatments
Sometimes an individual can just have one random seizure and do not need seizure treatment, but if they keep happening, the doctor may prescribe one of the following options:
- Medication
- Brain Surgery
- Vagus nerve stimulation
- Responsive Nerve Stimulation
- Routine Diet changes
Risk Factors of Seizure
- Abnormalities of brain
- Trauma
- Dementia
- Prenatal injury
- Developmental Delay
Typical Test For Seizure
The doctor will first inquire about the seizure. Then, they will conduct a neurological examination that contains questions about your emotional condition and test the patient’s mental abilities. The following tests may then be carried out:
- Blood tests to check for an infection.
- Electroencephalography (EEG) is a procedure in which a physician attaches electrodes to the brain to track its electrical activity.
- Imaging techniques to search for any issues in your brain, such as:
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Computerized tomography (CT)
- Positron emission tomography (PET)
- Single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT)
Additional Types of Seizures
Seizures are divided into two categories.
- Generalized seizures: Both sides of the brain are affected by generalized seizures.
- Absence of seizures (Petit Mal Seizures)
- Tonic-clonic seizures (Grand Mal Seizures)
- Tonic and Atonic Seizures (Drop Attacks)
- Focal seizures/Partial seizures: These affect only a single region of the brain.
- Simple focal seizures (Focal aware seizures)
- Complex focal seizures (Focal unaware seizures)
Alternate Name
Epidemiology
- Epilepsy affects one out of every 26 persons at some point in their lives.
- Single unprovoked seizures occur in 23-61 instances per 100,000 people every year.
- Acute symptomatic convolutions occur in 29-39 cases per 100,000 people every year.
- According to research, incidence rates in India range from 0.2 to 0.6 per 1,000 people.
- India's incidence rates are comparable to those in industrialized nations and are lower than those in most developing countries, ranging from 1.0 to 1.9 per 1,000 people per year.
- Epilepsy is more common in the youth with estimations of 86 per 100,000 every year in a well-defined population. This is likely to decrease to about 23–31 per 100,000 in people aged between 30–59 years. In older age groups, there is a subsequent increase expected, to 180 per 100,000 in people aged over 85 years.
Expected Prognosis
People with newly diagnosed seizures have a fair prognosis, with 60 to 75% of them becoming seizure-free, at the early stages of the disease. The expected prognosis for epilepsy includes several quantifiable end-points, including the likelihood of recurrence after a single unprovoked seizure, the possibility of remission after epilepsy diagnosis, and the risk of premature mortality.
Pathophysiology:
- When the charge inside a neuron is negative as compared to the charge outside, it is at resting membrane potential. When a neuron is active, its action potential is activated by a shift in the balance of positive and negative ions. An electrochemical message is transmitted, causing the body to react. As a result, neurons in the body are electrochemical messengers.
- Seizures are regular expressions of the cerebral cortex's electrical characteristics. When the excitatory and inhibitory forces within the network of cortical neurons are suddenly imbalanced caused by a sudden onset of excitement, a seizure develops.
Seizure Possible Complications:
- Falling.
- Drowning
- Car accidents.
- Difficulty in learning
- Pneumonia
- Brain Damage
- Pregnancy complications.
- Emotional health issues.
Our Medical Seizure Treatment in Mumbai, India Experts
If you are facing any similar signs or symptoms please contact the Nanavati Max team to schedule an appointment at : +91 22 6836 0000
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