What Are the Causes of Focal Seizures?

Focal seizures, or partial seizures, are a type of seizure with many different symptoms and causes. While a cause cannot be found for all cases of these seizures, there are many factors that contribute to them.

Types

• There are two types of focal seizures: complex and simple. Simple focal seizures do not affect the conscious state or the memory during, before or after the seizure, whereas complex seizures do.

Causes

• Abnormal electrical brain activity is the primary cause of focal seizures, typically due to a birth defect, head trauma or stroke causing irregular tissue in the brain. Substance and alcohol abuse can also cause abnormal electrical activity.

Risk Factors

• Many factors can contribute to the occurrence of seizures. These include a family history of focal seizures, infections like meningitis and brain surgery.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of a focal seizure include erratic head movement, muscle contractions, mouth movements, chewing with no cause, abnormal eye movement, numbness and tingling. Patients experiencing complex focal seizures may have no recollection of or before the event. Simple focal seizure patients usually do.

Identification

• Focal seizures only start in one part of the brain, so if the symptoms are focused on the left or right side of a person, then they may be having a focal seizure.