Seizures

like a drug heist?

From WebMD:

“Types of Epilepsy

Epilepsy is the occurrence of sporadic electrical storms in the brain commonly called seizures. These storms cause behavioral manifestations (such as staring) and/or involuntary movements (such as grand mal seizures).

There are several types of epilepsy, each with different causes, symptoms, and treatments.

When making a diagnosis of epilepsy, your doctor may use one of the following terms: idiopathic, cryptogenic, symptomatic, generalized, focal, or partial. Idiopathic means there is no apparent cause. Cryptogenic means there is a likely cause, but it has not been identified. Symptomatic means that a cause has been identified. Generalized means that the seizures are involving the whole brain at once. Focal or partial means that the seizure starts from one area of the brain.

Major Types of Epilepsy

Types of Epilepsy Generalized Epilepsy Partial Epilepsy

Idiopathic (genetic causes) – Childhood absence epilepsy

– Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy

– Epilepsy with grand-mal seizures on awakening Others – Benign focal epilepsy of childhood

Symptomatic (cause unknown) or cryptogenic (cause unknown) – West syndrome

– Lennox-Gastaut syndrome

– Others

– Temporal lobe epilepsy

– Frontal lobe epilepsy Others

Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy

In idiopathic generalized epilepsy, there is often, but not always, a family history of epilepsy. Idiopathic generalized epilepsy tends to appear during childhood or adolescence, although it may not be diagnosed until adulthood. In this type of epilepsy, no nervous system (brain or spinal cord) abnormalities other than the seizures have been identified as of yet. The brain is structurally normal on a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.

People with idiopathic generalized epilepsy have normal intelligence and the results of the neurological exam and MRI are usually normal. The results of the electroencephalogram (EEG — a test which measures electrical impulses in the brain) may show epileptic discharges affecting the entire brain (so called generalized discharges).

The types of seizures affecting patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy may include:

Myoclonic seizures (sudden and very short duration jerking of the extremities)

Absence seizures (staring spells)

Generalized tonic-clonic seizures (grand mal seizures)

Idiopathic generalized epilepsy is usually treated with medications. Some forms of this condition that may be outgrown, as is the case with childhood absence epilepsy and a large number of patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.

Idiopathic Partial Epilepsy

Idiopathic partial epilepsy begins in childhood (between ages 5 and 8) and may have a family history. Also known as benign focal epilepsy of childhood (BFEC), this is considered one of the mildest types of epilepsy. It is almost always outgrown by puberty and is never diagnosed in adults.

Seizures tend to occur during sleep and are most often simple partial motor seizures that involve the face and secondarily generalized (grand mal) seizures. This type of epilepsy is usually diagnosed with an EEG.

Symptomatic Generalized Epilepsy

Symptomatic generalized epilepsy is caused by widespread brain damage. Injury during birth is the most common cause of symptomatic generalized epilepsy. In addition to seizures, these patients often have other neurological problems, such as mental retardation or cerebral palsy. Specific, inherited brain diseases, such as adrenoleukodystrophy (ADL) or brain infections (such as meningitis and encephalitis) can also cause symptomatic generalized epilepsy. When the cause of symptomatic general epilepsy cannot be identified, the disorder may be referred to as cryptogenic epilepsy. These epilepsies include different subtypes — the most commonly known type is the Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

Multiple types of seizures (generalized tonic-clonic, tonic, myoclonic, tonic, atonic, and absence seizures) are common in these patients and can be difficult to control. Learn more about these seizure types.

Symptomatic Partial Epilepsy

Symptomatic partial (or focal) epilepsy is the most common type of epilepsy that begins in adulthood, but it does occur frequently in children. This type of epilepsy is caused by a localized abnormality of the brain, which can result from strokes, tumors, trauma, congenital (present at birth) brain abnormality, scarring or “sclerosis” of brain tissue, cysts, or infections.

Sometimes these brain abnormalities can be seen on MRI scans, but often they cannot be identified, despite repeated attempts, because they are microscopic.

This type of epilepsy may be successfully treated with surgery that is aimed to remove the abnormal brain area without compromising the function of the rest of the brain. Epilepsy surgery is very successful in a large number of epilepsy patients who failed multiple anticonvulsant medications (at least two or three drugs) and who have identifiable lesions. These patients undergo a presurgical comprehensive epilepsy evaluation in dedicated and specialized epilepsy centers.

Epilepsy Seizure Types and Symptoms

Based on the type of behavior and brain activity, seizures are divided into two broad categories: generalized and partial (also called local or focal). Classifying the type of seizure helps doctors diagnose whether or not a patient has epilepsy.

Generalized seizures are produced by electrical impulses from throughout the entire brain, whereas partial seizures are produced (at least initially) by electrical impulses in a relatively small part of the brain. The part of the brain generating the seizures is sometimes called the focus. The most common types of seizures are listed below:

Generalized Seizures

(Produced by the entire brain) Symptoms

1. “Grand Mal” or Generalized tonic-clonic Unconsciousness, convulsions, muscle rigidity

2. Absence Brief loss of consciousness

3. Myoclonic Sporadic (isolated), jerking movements

4. Clonic Repetitive, jerking movements

5. Tonic Muscle stiffness, rigidity

6. Atonic Loss of muscle tone

Generalized Seizures

There are six types of generalized seizures. The most common and dramatic, and therefore the most well known, is the generalized convulsion, also called the grand-mal seizure. In this type of seizure, the patient loses consciousness and usually collapses. The loss of consciousness is followed by generalized body stiffening (called the “tonic” phase of the seizure) for 30 to 60 seconds, then by violent jerking (the “clonic” phase) for 30 to 60 seconds, after which the patient goes into a deep sleep (the “postictal” or after-seizure phase). During grand-mal seizures, injuries and accidents may occur, such as tongue biting and urinary incontinence.

Absence seizures cause a short loss of consciousness (just a few seconds) with few or no symptoms. The patient, most often a child, typically interrupts an activity and stares blankly. These seizures begin and end abruptly and may occur several times a day. Patients are usually not aware that they are having a seizure, except that they may be aware of “losing time.”

Myoclonic seizures consist of sporadic jerks, usually on both sides of the body. Patients sometimes describe the jerks as brief electrical shocks. When violent, these seizures may result in dropping or involuntarily throwing objects.

Clonic seizures are repetitive, rhythmic jerks that involve both sides of the body at the same time.

Tonic seizures are characterized by stiffening of the muscles.

Atonic seizures consist of a sudden and general loss of muscle tone, particularly in the arms and legs, which often results in a fall.

Partial Seizures

(Produced by a small area of the brain) Symptoms

1. Simple (awareness is retained)

a. Simple Motor

b. Simple Sensory

c. Simple Psychological a. Jerking, muscle rigidity, spasms, head-turning

b. Unusual sensations affecting either the vision, hearing, smell taste, or touch

c. Memory or emotional disturbances

2. Complex

(Impairment of awareness) Automatisms such as lip smacking, chewing, fidgeting, walking and other repetitive, involuntary but coordinated movements

3. Partial seizure with secondary generalization Symptoms that are initially associated with a preservation of consciousness that then evolves into a loss of consciousness and convulsions.

Partial Seizures

Partial seizures are divided into simple, complex and those that evolve into secondary generalized seizures. The difference between simple and complex seizures is that during simple partial seizures, patients retain awareness; during complex partial seizures, they lose awareness.

Simple partial seizures are further subdivided into four categories according to the nature of their symptoms: motor, autonomic, sensory, or psychological. Motor symptoms include movements such as jerking and stiffening. Sensory symptoms caused by seizures involve unusual sensations affecting any of the five senses (vision, hearing, smell, taste, or touch). When simple partial seizures cause sensory symptoms only (and not motor symptoms), they are called “auras.”

Autonomic symptoms affect the autonomic nervous system, which is the group of nerves that control the functions of our organs, like the heart, stomach, bladder, intestines. Therefore autonomic symptoms are things like racing heart beat, stomach upset, diarrhea, loss of bladder control. The only common autonomic symptom is a peculiar sensation in the stomach that is experienced by some patients with a type of epilepsy called temporal lobe epilepsy. Simple partial seizures with psychological symptoms are characterized by various experiences involving memory (the sensation of deja-vu), emotions (such as fear or pleasure), or other complex psychological phenomena.

Complex partial seizures, by definition, include impairment of awareness. Patients seem to be “out of touch,” “out of it,” or “staring into space” during these seizures. There may also be some “complex” symptoms called automatisms. Automatisms consist of involuntary but coordinated movements that tend to be purposeless and repetitive. Common automatisms include lip smacking, chewing, fidgeting, and walking.

The third kind of partial seizure is one that begins as a focal seizure and evolves into a generalized convulsive (“grand-mal”) seizure. Most patients with partial seizures have simple partial, complex partial, and secondarily generalized seizures. In about two-thirds of patients with partial epilepsy, seizures can be controlled with medications. Partial seizures that cannot be treated with drugs can often be treated surgically.”

hijacking this thread sorry.

mods, is there a way you can post rules about medical advice? suggestions: saying where the information is from, what capacity you work in the medical field, etc? for ex, on the liq med thread i said in clinicals we did x y z-i’m a student nurse.

health, you missed febrile seizures.

2scents, seizures can cause physical injury-seizure precautions as part of nursing interventions include padded side rails, bed in lowest position. some texts say to keep a mattress on the floor near the bed. plus o2 ready, iv access, suction.

but what your saying about neuro damage is what we learned as well.

Mods, do you think you could spare us from having to bear huge cut and pastes? The simple directive that someone just tootle on along to WebMD should suffice.

the OP was asking about different types of seizures. yes you had a complete list of types of epilepsy, but s/he was asking about seizures in general. i was only trying to make a suggestion that you may have missed one. sheesh.

yenta -What makes you think I was trying to answer the OP’s question in it’s entirety? I was giving him some info, not all the info, but you couldn’t see this obviously -so you called me out on it. – “health, you missed febrile seizures.” Health is My name!

“i was only trying to make a suggestion that you may have missed one.”

And as far as just missing one -so there are only two types of seizures – Epileptic & fever acc. to you? Is this what they taught you in nursing school? Sheesh!

I liked this line.

“and right now i am learning which posters to answer and which to ignore.”

Does the fact that there are doctors with mean attitudes scare you?

Do you EVER have anything nice to say, Health?

2scents

Mint and Raspberry

I liked this line.

“and right now i am learning which posters to answer and which to ignore.”

Does the fact that there are doctors with mean attitudes scare you?

---

what makes you think the person that the nursing student is referring to is a doctor? I will grant you that the mean attitude seems to fit… but a doctor?

Raphael Kaufman -“Health did not offer medical advice although he is qualified to do so. He posted medical information as found in open source material. He just saved you the trouble of looking for it yourself.”

Thanks for a honest, non-degrading opinion. So far you seem to be the only one -at least when it comes to me.

the.nurse -“Do you EVER have anything nice to say, Health?”

And do you EVER have anything nice to say to me -Nurse?

You only focused on my response, not the fact that my post was attacked and I defended it!

“Health: I think your issue is that you seem to view almost any type of disagreement as degrading and a personal attack.”

+1

No one attacked you, Health. Somehow you seem to view whatever anyone’s says to you as an “attack” and then boy, do you attack back, when there was no need or reason in the first place.

C_A_D well said.

People should know better than to believe everything they read online.

I am who I am, and know what I know, (do I have to prove that?) I have seen countless things online which are false or not accurate.

Thanks for reminding us about this.

Syag, I figure I could do at least as well as the Oorah guy.

Ctrl Alt Del -“Look, some people like to be things online that cannot be in real life. The web offers people an opportunity to be completely anonymous and therefore you can craft any persona you want.

I can pretend to be a lawyer and write eloquently and do a little digging around online for legal terms and advice so I can come off sounding lawyerly. I can even dispense actual legal advice. There is no downside. I don’t ever have to prove what I am. The rest of us just have to know that online advice or information can be faulty.

I have nothing against Health. Though he claims I have been harassing him for years I’ve only had an account for 11 months. He/she needs this to be his/her online persona for whatever reason. I’ve decided to let Health be”

I’m not even going to defend myself at this point. I’m way past that. But I’m just curious -why didn’t you do this in the git go?

Why the constant put downs? The only thing I can come up with is guilt. You are the one who needs to have this online persona, not me. But you can’t control it -so you let your anger on yourself – out on me. Ever hear the term -Kol Hapoisel B’momo Poisel?

“unless I find a glaring disparity in what is posted. Or if there is a dangerous suggestion in his post.”

Yea, like cutting out an ingrown nail -definitely will lead to gangrene. LOL!

“unless I find a glaring disparity in what is posted. Or if there is a dangerous suggestion in his post.”

Topic: swallowing pills.

And why can’t you take chewable children’s vitamins? Take what you need to get the prenatal dose.

Health. Purveyor of fine medical advice.

CAD – think “cucumber”

Ctrl Alt Del -“Please. Let’s not be ridiculous. You flippantly gave the advice without the background knowledge. No responsible practitioner would ever tell someone to substitute medication for another and to calculate what the equivalencey would be.”

Maybe in a practice they wouldn’t, but that’s what they’re getting paid for. I don’t recall charging for my advice. I don’t assume superiority of all others like you. I think the avg. person knows how to do arithmetic that they took in elementary school. They know that there are certain amount of vitamins in a prenatal and it’s not hard to figure out how many chewables will equal into one. Even if they have to break a pill into half or a quarter or whatever. Believe it or not most people have a half a brain in their head and know how to figure out to do simple things. I know you are used to talking to e/o esp. your pts. (if you have any) like two year olds, but the avg. adult doesn’t appreciate being treated like a child. It might not be your fault -I might be the first one in your life that actually stood up to you. The posters here only seem to edge you on! I guess they are impressed with s/o who puts down others on a constant basis.

“And do you know why they wouldnt do it? Because its a dangerous suggestion. Period. The end.”

As dangerous as the chance of s/o getting gangrene. You see I live in the real world, not in the CYA world. Again this might not be your fault -this was drilled into you from your place of employment. Where did you say you worked again -a veterinary hospital? S/o asked for help & I made a suggestion.

Usually repetitive seizures are an indicator that something might not be right.

Chuckle chuckle … silly Health, practicing medicine is for grownups.

sam responsible -“Now I will say what I’ve heard. Seizure is a Disorder and not a Disease< so it can be helped with responsible sources of Natural. Only through a doctor (alternative).”

What are you saying? Alternative medicine hold they can cure diseases also or are you saying seizures can only be treated by alternative medicine? Either way -What is your point if you have one?

Sam -the only type of doc that will give you info on alternative medicine -is one who practices alternative medicine.

So what do you mean by -“But Not without guidance of a doctor.”?

There are Doctors (MDs) who will suggest a non-medicinal route with seizures, it doesnt make them alternative doctors.

Bears have seizures?