Warning Signs of Seizures

Seizures are not altogether uncommon: about one in 10 people will experience a seizure during their lifetime. A variety of conditions can cause a seizure. We'll look at the warning signs of a seizure, explain what it is and what the underlying cause might be, look at treatment options and talk about what to do if someone around you has a seizure.

Warning signs of a seizure

• People who have had more than one seizure often come to recognize the warning signs that signal they are about to have one. These signs can include physical symptoms like dizziness, lightheadedness, headache, nausea and numbness. Symptoms might include sensory signs, such as experiencing a specific smell, taste or sound, loss or blurring of vision, racing thoughts, and the feeling of deja vu or jamais vu. (Deja vu is the feeling you have been somewhere or done something before; jamais vu is the feeling, when doing something familiar or being in a familiar setting, that you have never been there or done that before.) A person about to experience a seizure sometimes feels frightened, or conversely, he might experience a pleasant feeling.

What is a seizure?

• A seizure is a sudden surge of electrical activity in the brain. The type of seizure depends on what part of the brain and how much of it is affected by the electrical surge. Generalized seizures affect both hemispheres of the brain and produce loss of consciousness, for just several seconds or up to two minutes. Tonic-clonic seizures, also known as grand mal, are the most common type of generalized seizures. They cause stiffening of the limbs, then jerking of the limbs and face. Absence seizures, also known as petit mal, are brief, lasting only a few seconds, but do cause a lack of awareness. A child can have up to one hundred petit mal seizures every day before he is diagnosed.

Causes

• If a person has two or more seizures, they are said to have epilepsy. There are a host of possible causes, but most people with epilepsy don't have any of the risk factors, and the cause is never known. Epilepsy can be inherited, caused by a severe head injury, or cerebral palsy, stroke, brain infection or tumor. Babies who are small for their age are more prone to epilepsy. Ingesting illegal substances such as cocaine can cause seizures. It's important to see a neurologist if you have a seizure.
  For a person diagnosed with epilepsy, triggers that can lead to more seizures include forgetting to take your medication (the most common reason), illness, severe psychological distress, taking medications that interfere with the anti-seizure medication and heavy alcohol usage.

Treatment

• Most of the time, epilepsy can be controlled with medication. It can take several tries before you and your doctor work out the right prescription, at the right dosage.The great majority of people with epilepsy will be able to control their seizures with medication, but if that is not successful, there are other possibilities, including the ketogenic diet, vagus nerve stimulation and brain surgery,

What to do if someone has a seizure

• Witnessing a seizure can be frightening. The best thing to do is to stay calm and to encourage others not to overreact. Never try to restrain a person having a seizure, but do remove any hard or sharp objects from the area and loosen his tie or anything that's tight around the neck. Put something soft, like a folded-up coat, under her head. Turn the person gently onto the side if possible. A person will not swallow his tongue during a seizure: don't touch his mouth. Stay with the person until the seizure ends, be calm and reassuring, and offer to take her home or call a cab if she seems confused. Generally there is no need to go to the hospital after a seizure: when it's over, it's over.