what is a seizure

What is a Seizure?

Seizures are caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. In the healthy brain, electrical and chemical signals are fired between nerves called neurons to drive the brain's ability to think, feel and send instructions to parts of the body, such as the muscles. Seizures occur when this electrical system in the brain malfunctions.


Seizures may cause dramatic symptoms such as uncontrollable muscle movement, frothing at the mouth and violent shaking, along with blackout and confusion. However, symptoms can also be mild, with few physical symptoms and a person merely appearing to stare into space and not be paying attention.


There are many causes of seizure including fever, injury, disease and the use of certain medications. When seizures occur on a regular basis due to a brain disorder, this is called epilepsy.
Symptoms of seizures
 
There are several types of seizure including non-epileptic seizures which may arise from a head injury or illness, for example, as well as partial and generalized seizures, which are associated with epilepsy. Partial seizures arise from abnormal activity in one part of the brain.

Symptoms may vary according to where exactly that abnormality is, but examples include a wave-like sensation, a sense of déjà vu, numbness, tingling and visual disturbances such as hallucination.

Abnormal electrical activity involving a larger portion or the whole of the brain are referred to as generalized seizures. Examples of generalized seizure include:

Absence seizure - Where a person appears inattentive for a short period.

Myoclonic seizure - Characterized by muscle twitching.

Clonic seizure - Where the sufferer experiences involuntary muscle spasms.

Tonic-clonic seizure - the form most commonly associated with epilepsy. In tonic-clonic seizure, the skeletal muscles stiffen up causing the body to contract (tonic phase) and this is followed by convulsions and vibration of the stiffened limbs (clonic phase).

Another type of generalized seizure is atonic seizure, also called a drop seizure, which is usually noticeable as a drooping of the head as strength in the head and neck muscles is lost. Although the seizure itself is not damaging, the loss of muscle tone can cause a person to fall and hurt themselves. Warning signs that may precede a seizure include a sense of fear or anxiety, nausea, dizziness and visual disturbances.
Diagnosis

Recurrent and unprovoked seizures are diagnostic for epilepsy but seizures may also occur in people who do not have epilepsy due to other causes such as severely low blood sugar, brain tumours, infection or injury. Therefore, diagnosis of epilepsy involves ruling out any other such underlying causes.

Diagnosis involves an assessment of clinical symptoms and the details of the seizure experienced, followed by an electroencephalogram (EEG) to examine the brain's electrical activity.

A large range of antiepileptic medications are available. These medications prevent repeated firing of the electrical impulses in the brain. Regular use of antiepileptic drugs can prevent the complications of epilepsy such as accidents brought about during convulsions or sudden loss of muscle tone.

Most antiepileptic drugs, however, are not free from side effects, especially in the case of long-term use. Some examples of antiepileptic agents include phenytoin, carbamazepine, sodium valproate, topiramate and lamotrigine.

Reviewed by Sally Robertson, BSc
Sources

Further Reading

    Epileptic Seizure Symptoms
    Epileptic Seizure Diagnosis
    Epileptic Seizure Causes
    Epileptic Seizure Management


Advertisement
Read in:
English
Related Stories

    Types Of Seizures And Their Symptoms
    Sandra Nguyen, PharmD Intern, RxEconsult
    Symptoms Of Seizure Disorders
    Heidi Moawad, MD, RxEconsult
    Seizure Disorder Vs. Epilepsy
    Heidi Moawad, MD, RxEconsult
    Briviact Versus Keppra For Treatment Of Seizures
    Sandra Nguyen et al., RxEconsult



    Pain Assessment and Treatment in Children With Significant Impairment of the Central Nervous System
    Julie Hauer et al., Pediatrics
    American football and other sports injuries may cause migraine/persistent pain decades later and can be treated successfully with electrical twitch-obtaining intramuscular stimulation (ETOIMS)
    J Chu et al., BMJ Innovations
    Case 1: Vertigo and Episodes of Slurred Speech in a 5-year-old Girl
    Ashwin Malhotra et al., Pediatr Rev
    Evaluation of quality of life of carers of Italian spinoni with idiopathic epilepsy
    Luisa De Risio et al., Vet Rec Open

Powered by TrendMD
Comments

    Elaine Pelteret Walker on What is a Seizure?
    Elaine Pelteret Walker Elaine Pelteret Walker South Africa says:
    November 18, 2013 at 1:03 PM

    My son is a diabetic and gets seizures at night while he is sleeping, very worried because he are in Zambia at the moment, luckily he has someone that can help him, otherwise he does not know that he had it!
    0 0
    Reply

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News-Medical.Net.
Post a new comment
Login   
Post
Advertisement

    Trending
    Stories
    Latest
    Interviews
    Top Health
    Articles

    Canola oil linked to worsening of Alzheimer’s
    Canola oil linked to worsening of Alzheimer’s
    Generic versions of Viagra coming this week
    Generic versions of Viagra coming this week
    Study: Living Lyme disease bacteria found months after antibiotic treatment
    Study: Living Lyme disease bacteria found months after antibiotic treatment
    Study links canola oil consumption with worsened memory, learning ability in Alzheimer's
    Study links canola oil consumption with worsened memory, learning ability in Alzheimer's
    Bi-annual MRI beats mammograms in detecting breast cancer among women with genetic risk
    Bi-annual MRI beats mammograms in detecting breast cancer among women with genetic risk

Advertisement
Latest News

    Risk of cervical cancer may dramatically increase in older women, study states
    Risk of cervical cancer may dramatically increase in older women, study states
    Ottawa researchers use viruses to target and destroy HIV
    Ottawa researchers use viruses to target and destroy HIV
    Advances in BioAFM
    Advances in BioAFM
    Treatment for skin cancer could be more effective if combined with arthritis drug
    Treatment for skin cancer could be more effective if combined with arthritis drug
    Drug industry spent millions to squelch talk about high drug prices
    Drug industry spent millions to squelch talk about high drug prices

Newsletters you may be interested in

    Epilepsy
    Epilepsy
    (Subscribe or Preview)
    Neurology / Neuroscience
    Neurology / Neuroscience
    (Subscribe or Preview)
    Psychiatry
    Psychiatry
    (Subscribe or Preview)

See all Newsletters »
Medical Links

    Medical Home
    News
    Health A-Z
    White Papers
    Thought Leaders
    Insights

    MediKnowledge Series
    Health & Personal Care
    Medical Devices
    Drugs

Life Sciences Links

    Life Sciences Home
    News
    Lab Instruments & Equipment
    Life Sciences A-Z
    White Papers
    Thought Leaders
    Insights
    Webinars

Other Useful Links

    About
    Meet the Team
    Search
    Newsletters
    Twitter Channels
    Sitemap
    Advertise
    Contact

News-Medical

    Facebook Twitter Google Plus

611 people on this site
powered by chartbeat

News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide.

This website is certified by Health On the Net Foundation. Click to verify.This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.


BY :  https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-a-Seizure.aspx