What Is Seizure?

“I’m standing in the lobby talking to one of my co-workers. The man talks about how useful he finds regular exercise when he goes silent in the middle of the sentence. He looks into the distance, but he doesn't respond. Meanwhile, he pinches the sleeve of his beautifully ironed shirt. A few seconds later, he resumes where he left off. ”

“I was numb all day; no wonder I didn’t fall asleep the night before. I'm not feeling well, and I'm sitting in a chair. I see the left side of the room darkened, and then I see flashing lights that slowly spread in front of my right eye. I feel like my head hurts a lot, like being stabbed with a knife. I feel my head turn to the right. Then darkness. I open my eyes and find myself on the ground. People are standing around me. I immediately recognized from their gaze that I had a grand mal seizure. ”

Maybe you're familiar with it? Both quotes describe an epileptic seizure. The first one sees through the eyes of an outsider how his co-worker had an absence seizure. The other quote shares how a person with epilepsy experiences a grand mal or tonic-clonic seizure.

If colleagues had recognized the epileptic seizure:

      • employees would not be surprised
      • they would not stare at a man who is just having a seizure
      • they would not stand around the patient incomprehensibly
      • the epileptic should not be ashamed of the seizure
      • co-workers would know immediately what would happen and what to do in such a situation.

Read on to find out the most common epileptic seizures.

How do define a seizure?

A seizure is an electrical disruption in the brain that occurs suddenly and uncontrollably. It can alter your behavior, motions, or sensations, as well as your level of consciousness. Epilepsy is generally defined as two or more seizures that occur at least 24 hours apart and are not caused by an identifiable cause.

Symptoms

Depending on the location of the epileptic foci, different symptoms may occur during the seizure:

       • Motorized: muscle contractions
       • Sensory:various sensory disturbances may occur, e.g. numbness, hallucinations of vision, hearing, smell or taste. Such isolated sensory disturbances are called epileptic aura, which may occur on their own or as a sign of a different, even generalized seizure.

If you notice a change in yourselves:
       • your mood fluctuates,
       • you inadvertently make small movements,
       • you notice inappropriate smells or sounds,
       • your vision deteriorates for a short time, or
       • you collapse unnecessarily,

see a neurologist/epileptologist who can diagnose epilepsy.

Types of epileptic seizures

Epileptic seizures can vary depending on which areas of the brain are overactive. The course of the seizure is the most important point of reference in determining the types of seizures.

There are basically two main types of seizures:

Generalized: epileptic seizures with bilateral motor phenomena affecting the whole brain.

In addition to the generalized seizure, we also distinguish:

Absence: the main symptom of seizures is confusion; they most often occur at the age of 4-10 years. Seizures return without warning signs, up to 10-50 seizures per day.

An example: “At school, the teacher calls the child, but he doesn’t respond, he just looks at a point for a long time. The teacher thinks the student is only dreaming, so he drowns him because of his disobedient behavior. But the kid doesn't understand, he doesn't remember what might have happened a few seconds ago. ”

Myoclonic seizures: typically, they appear as short jerks or twitches of your limbs and legs. Often, there is no loss of consciousness.

Clonic seizure: an irregular asymmetrical muscle twitch without a tonic section. It does not cause confusion.

Tonic seizure: is a muscle activity that fixes the affected part of the body or limb in a certain position. It usually occurs at night. It lasts for a maximum of 1 minute and usually causes confusion.

An example: “The man sleeps in his bed for a long time and then suddenly his limbs tighten. He lies in an abnormal position for a few minutes and then his body weakens again. ”

Tonic-clonic seizure (also known as a grand mal) is not limited to a single body part, but spreads throughout the body. During a seizure, the patient loses consciousness and all the muscles are tensed (this is called a tonic seizure). Seconds later, all the muscles start to twitch (this is clonic seizure). Convulsions last for a short time and then the body relaxes. After a few more minutes, the patient slowly regains consciousness, but his consciousness may remain foggy, blurred for a long time, or the patient may fall asleep.

An example: “A man is standing at the bus stop, chatting happily with his co-worker. Suddenly he falls silent, his eyes clasped, his head slowly turning sideways. His mouth twists, strange cries erupt from him. He is no longer conscious. He falls to the ground, his limbs reaching out and tensing. His whole body starts to twitch. He can't keep his urine. The others put something soft under the attacker's head to protect him from injury. Someone is watching the clock and measuring the length of the seizure. They stay with him all the way until his consciousness returns. If the seizure lasts more than 5 minutes or the seizure recurs, an ambulance will be called.”

Partial or also known as focal seizures, which are limited to certain areas of the brain, depending upon where in the brain the unusual activity is stored.

Simplex partial seizure: the patient is conscious throughout, and can be communicated with during a seizure. Sometimes their limbs may jerk and have some unusual sensation in their body.

Complex partial seizure: the patient loses consciousness

Partial seizures can progress to a secondary generalized seizure if the electrical disturbance spreads from the initial focal to the entire brain.

An example: “The child will suddenly have a blurred left field of vision (partial seizure). It doesn't want to go away in a few seconds. Moreover, the out-of-focus vibrant spot is slowly covering his entire field of view. The child can do nothing, he loses consciousness. A major attack (secondary generalized seizure) occurs.

Here is a summary list of types of epilepsy: 1. Partial
      1.1. simplex
      1.2. complex
      1.3. secondary generalized

2. Generalized
       2.1. absence
       2.2. myoclonic
       2.3. tonic
       2.4. clonic
      2.5. tonic-clonic

Causes of seizures

The brain's nerve cells (neurons) generate, send, and receive electrical impulses, allowing the brain's nerve cells to communicate. Anything that interferes with these communication routes can cause a seizure.

Epilepsy is the most prevalent cause of seizures. However, not everyone who suffers a seizure has epilepsy. Seizures can be produced or induced by a variety of factors, including:

• High fever, which can be caused by an infection such as meningitis.
• Lack of sleep.
• Flashing lights, moving patterns, or other visual stimuli.
• Hyponatremia (low blood sodium), which can occur after using diuretics.
• Seizure-reducing drugs, such as certain pain relievers, antidepressants.
• Head trauma that causes a bleeding zone in the brain.
• Brain blood vessel anomalies.
• Autoimmune illnesses include systemic lupus erythematosus and multiple sclerosis.
• A stroke.
• Genetic mutations.
• A brain tumor.
• Use of illegal or recreational drugs, such as stimulants or cocaine, during withdrawal or excessive intoxication.
• COVID-19 viral infection.

Neeraj Clinic is one of India's most demanded Ayurveda treatment centers for seizure treatment and complex neurological disorders. At Neeraj Clinic, patients come around from different parts of the world to get Ayurveda Treatment. Till now, we have cured more than 1 lakh epileptic patients. We have core Expertise with Ayurveda, Nature Therapy, and Allopathy to treat seizures.