Seizures

Seizures are a result of several health problems, and they have many types and symptoms that vary in how they affect daily life.

Seizures

A seizure is an abnormal electrical activity in the brain that emerges suddenly and causes changes in the consciousness, feelings, movements, and behaviors.

Stages of seizures:

• Prodrome phase: a hard-to-describe change in senses.
• Aura phase: a feeling that a place or a person is familiar or unfamiliar, or a change in the senses, like taste, smell, sound, and feeling.
• Ictal phase: it includes the symptoms of the seizure, starting with the aura until the last one.
• Postictal phase: the period after the seizure during recovery.

Causes of seizures

The nerve cells in the brain communicate through electrical impulses, and a seizure occurs due to a change in the way that the neurons communicate. Causes of seizures include:

• Epilepsy, and it’s the most common cause.
• Infections in the brain, like meningitis and encephalitis.
• Brain conditions, such as stroke, tumors, cerebral hypoxia, cerebrovascular disease, concussion, and brain injuries.
• Aneurysms.
• Diabetes.
• Eclampsia.
• Low blood sodium.
• A seizure can be triggered by flashing or flickering lights, lack of sleep, stress, high fever, abnormal blood sugar levels, substance use, and certain medications (like bupropion).

Symptoms of seizures

Symptoms of a seizure in general last a few seconds to minutes and include staring, short-lived confusion, jerking movements of the arms and legs, loss of consciousness, drooling, teeth clenching, abnormal eye movements, loss of bladder or bowel control, and changes in thinking or emotions.

Seizures are divided into:

• Focal seizures: they occur due to a change in one area of the brain, and they may or may not include loss of consciousness.
• Generalized seizures: they involve all areas of the brain.

A seizure can lead to incidents that cause harm for the patient and people around them (like falling, drowning, and car accidents), pregnancy complications, mental health issues, and death in rare cases.

Diagnosis of seizures

• Imaging tests,
• Neurological tests.
• Blood tests.
• A lumbar puncture.

Treatment of seizures

• Medications.
• Brain stimulation.
• Surgery.