Seizures

January 15, 2021Articles25

Seizures are sudden ,uncontrolled electrical disturbance in the brain. It can cause changes in your behaviour ,movements or feelings, and in levels of consciousness. If you have two or more seizures or a tendency have recurrent seizures, you have epilepsy.

There are many types of seizures ,which range in severity. Seizure type vary by where and how they begin in the brain.Most seizures last from 30 seconds to two minutes.A seizure that lasts longer than five minutes is a medical emergency.

Most seizure disorders can be controlled with medication, but management of seizurescan still have a significant impact on your daily life.

Types of Seizures –

Generalized Seizures-

Generalized seizures involve your entire brain from the start. Common subtypes are as following-

• Tonic-clonic(Grand mal)–

This is the most common subtype.Your arms and legs get stiff, and you may stop breathing for a bit.Then your limbs will jerk around. Your head will move about, as well. Sometimes loss of bladder control or biting your tongue.

• Absence seizures (Petit-mal)-

These often occur in children and are characterized by staring into space or by subtle body movements, such as eye blinking or lip smacking.These seizures may occur in clusters and cause a brief loss of awareness.

• Tonic Seizures –

These seizures cause stiffening of your muscles.These seizures usually affect muscles in your back,arms and legs and may cause you to fall to the ground.

• Clonic seizures-

Clonic seizures are associated with repeated or rhythmic, jerking muscle movements. These seizures usually affect the neck, face and arms.

• Atonic seizures –

These are also known as drop seizures, cause a loss of muscle control, which may causeyou to suddenly collapse or fall down.

• Myoclonic seizures-

These usually appear as sudden brief jerks or twitches of your arms and legs.

• Febrile seizures-

These are convulsions a child may have from a high fever caused by an infection.They can last a few minutes but are usually harmless.

• Infantile spasms –

These usually stop by age 4 years.The child’s body gets stiff suddenly and their head goes forward. Many kids who have these get epilepsy later in life.

Focal Seizures –

Focal seizures result from abnormal electrical activity in one area of your brain. Focal seizures can occur with or without loss of consciousness-

• Focal seizures with impaired awareness –

These involve a Change or loss of consciousness or awareness. You may stare into space and not respond normally to your environment or perform repetitive movements such as hand rubbing, chewing, swallowing or walking in circles.

• Focal seizures without loss of consciousness-

These may alter emotions or change the way things look, smell,feel, taste or sound,but don’t lose consciousness. These may also result in the involuntary jerking of a body part, such as an arm or leg, and spontaneous sensory symptoms such as tingling, dizziness or flashing lights.

Symptoms of focal seizures may be confused with other neurological disorders, such as migraine, narcolepsy or mental illness.

Symptoms –

• Uncontrollable, spastic movements of your body, particularly your arm or legs

• Stiffening and then loosening of limbs or muscles

• Sudden emotional states that can include a feeling of doom, fear or euphoria

• Staring into space

• Involuntary movements of your tongue or mouth screaming or crying

• Rapid blinking of eyes

• Sweating and nausea

• Loss of consciousness

• Confusion

• Falling to the ground

Causes-

Nerve cells in the brain create, send And receive electrical impulses, which allow the brain’s nerve cells to communicate.anything that disrupts these communication pathways can lead to a seizure.

The most common cause of seizures in epilepsy. Butnot everyone who has a seizure has epilepsy.

Seizures can happen with no explanation, but there are also conditions and events that can bring them on, including: –

• Stroke

• Head Injuries

• Brain Tumors

• Brain infections like meningitis

• Cancer

• High fever

• Electrolyte imbalance

• Very low blood sugar

• Repetitive sounds or flashing lights, as in video games

• Some medications, like antipsychotics and some asthma drugs

• Use of narcotics such as ,cocaine and heroin

• Withdrawal from some medications like Xanax,narcotics or alcohol

• COVID-19

Stages-

Diagnosis-

• A neurological exam-

Your doctor may test your behavior, motor abilitiesand mental function to determine if you have a problem with your brain and nervous system.

• Blood Tests-

Your doctor may take a bloodsample to check for signs of infections, genetic conditions, bloodsugar levels or electrolyte imbalances.

• Lumbar Puncture-

If your doctor suspects an infection as the cause of a seizure,you may need to have asample of Cerebrospinal fluid removed for testing.

• Other imaging techniques –

An electroencephalogram (EEG),Computerized tomography (CT), Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Positive emission tomography (PET) or Single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) Can help in diagnosing its variety and reason.

Complications –

Having a seizure atcertain times can lead to circumstances that are dangerous for you or others.You might be at risk of-

• Falling- If you fall during a seizure, you can injure your head or break a bone.

• Drowning – If you have a seizure while swimming or bathing, you are at risk of accidental drowning.

• Car accidents- A seizure that Causes either loss of awareness or control can be dangerous if you are driving a car or operating other equipment.

• Pregnancy complications- during pregnancy it poses dangers to both mother and baby, and certain anti- epileptic medications increase the risk of birth defects.

• Emotional health issues- People with seizures are more likely to have psychological problems, such as depression and anxiety.

Treatment-

Treatments depends on the cause. By treating the cause, you may be able to prevent future seizures from occuring.

Line of treatment could be-

• Medications

• Surgery to correct brain abnormalities

• Nerve stimulation

• a special diet, known as a ketogenic diet

Ayurvedic Perspective-

In Ayurveda we can correlate Seizures with Apasmara. The dosha vitiated mainly in Apsamara is Vata dosha.Since vata doshas controls the functioning of the other doshas, vitiation in vata doshas leads to disturbance of the delicate balance that exists between the doshas. This ultimately leads to the disturbance in the functioning of the mind, and seizure appears.

Line of treatment –

PanchkarmaTherapies –

• Sarvangabhyanga

• Navar kizhi

• Shirobasti

• Shirodhara

• Nasya

Beneficial Herbs-

• Brahmi-

• Ashwagandha–

• Jyotismati-

• Vacha –

Effective Medications-

• Pancha gavya ghrita

• Brahmi ghrita

• Manasmitra vatika

• Aswagandharhishta

• Saraswatarhishta

Meditation –

Pranayam procedures specially Bhastrika, Aulom-vilom,Om Uccharen, and Udagith are highly beneficial for seizures to stop.

For more informatve articles on health issues , please visit our website www.santripty.com and also feel free to consult.