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mayoraaseiLast Thursday we watched an interesting 17-minute video on various types of seizures. It was probably filmed at a specialist clinic of some sort, where they had about twenty to thirty epileptic kids playing sport (probably to bring on the seizures). Every now and then one of them would have a seizure, and it's almost kind of humbling to see how underwhelmed the others are, just giving the person a few reassuring pats until they come out of their seizures.
I think the form of seizure most familiar to everyone is one called "tonic clonic seizures", where the person is usually unconscious and their limbs jerk uncontrollably.
In reality, there's a wide range of seizures, some of them practically unnoticeable and others more obvious.
The physical ones are probably the most obvious: sometimes it can manifest as a face twitch, or a limb that jerks randomly for a period of time. There are also more generalised seizures, the "tonic seizure" where the entire body tenses up and the person drops to the ground in a dead faint, or the "atonic seizures" where all the muscles suddenly lose power and the person drops to the ground. As one can imagine, this is quite dangerous for an epileptic who might seize up in the middle of a road - or, more often, land on their head as they drop.
The ones that are easiest to miss are focal seizures, where only a small part of the brain is affected. This can show up as twitches in certain parts of the body, but it can also be more insidious and so easily missed. Sometimes it can manifest as a sudden mood change, a sudden display of anxiety and paranoia and repetitive reassuring movements (like rubbing arms or hand-wringing).
The one that everyone agreed can be easily missed is the "absent" (French pronunciation) seizures, where all that appears is the person zones out for a few seconds. Unlike the rest of us who frequently zone out in lectures (LOL), they are practically unconscious for that few seconds, although their don't actually drop to the ground and pass out. After the event they have no recollection of what happens during that time. So it often happens to be the quiet kid you see in class who stares absently out the window...whose seizures might go undiagnosed for years.
I think the form of seizure most familiar to everyone is one called "tonic clonic seizures", where the person is usually unconscious and their limbs jerk uncontrollably.
In reality, there's a wide range of seizures, some of them practically unnoticeable and others more obvious.
The physical ones are probably the most obvious: sometimes it can manifest as a face twitch, or a limb that jerks randomly for a period of time. There are also more generalised seizures, the "tonic seizure" where the entire body tenses up and the person drops to the ground in a dead faint, or the "atonic seizures" where all the muscles suddenly lose power and the person drops to the ground. As one can imagine, this is quite dangerous for an epileptic who might seize up in the middle of a road - or, more often, land on their head as they drop.
The ones that are easiest to miss are focal seizures, where only a small part of the brain is affected. This can show up as twitches in certain parts of the body, but it can also be more insidious and so easily missed. Sometimes it can manifest as a sudden mood change, a sudden display of anxiety and paranoia and repetitive reassuring movements (like rubbing arms or hand-wringing).
The one that everyone agreed can be easily missed is the "absent" (French pronunciation) seizures, where all that appears is the person zones out for a few seconds. Unlike the rest of us who frequently zone out in lectures (LOL), they are practically unconscious for that few seconds, although their don't actually drop to the ground and pass out. After the event they have no recollection of what happens during that time. So it often happens to be the quiet kid you see in class who stares absently out the window...whose seizures might go undiagnosed for years.
