Fig - Absence Seizure

Definition:
A seizure is a sudden surge of electrical activity in the brain that usually affect how a person feels or acts for a short time. Some seizures are hardly noticed. During other seizures, person may cry out, fall to the floor unconscious, twitch or move uncontrollably, drool, or even lose bladder control. Within minutes, the attack is over, and the person regains consciousness but is exhausted and dazed.

Seizures are not a disease by themselves. Instead, they are a symptom of many different disorders that can affect the brain. That why anything that might be a seizure should be discussed with a doctor.

Specialists classify seizures in two large categories. These two categories include many individual types, usually identified by the kind of behavior the seizure produces.

Fig - Seizure

Generalized seizures, involve the whole brain:

• Tonic-clonic
• Tonic
• Atonic
• Myoclonic
• Absence

Partial seizures, involve just one part of the brain

• Simple partial
• Complex partial

Fig - Seizure

Fig - Epilepsy

Simple Partial Seizures

• Jamais vu (familiar things suddenly seem unfamiliar)
• Trembling that moves up one side of the body
• Déjà vu (unfamiliar things seem familiar)
• Out of body experiences
• Sudden shifts in mood
• Unexplained anger or fear
• Disturbed speech

Complex Partial Seizures

• Lip smacking
• Swallowing
• Picking at clothes
• Wandering
• Lack of response to others
• Repeated phrases
• Senseless, clumsy movements
• Lost time
• Disrobing
• Being briefly unaware of danger or pain

Generalized Seizures

• Brief staring
• Sudden muscle contractions
• Sudden falls
• Convulsions