Understanding Seizure: More Than Just Shaking

Seizures are sudden, abnormal bursts of electrical activity in the brain, leading to changes in behavior, momentary loss of consciousness, feelings, and awareness. They are not a disease themselves but symptoms of an underlying neurological condition.

Common causes of Seizures:
Here are some triggers

  • Epilepsy
  • fever
  • head trauma and brain injury
  • stroke or brain tumor
  • Low blood sugar and electrolyte imbalance
  • Sleep deprivation
  • Alcohol and drug withdrawal

Types of Seizures

  1. Focal Seizure: Affects one part of the brain. Symptoms may include unusual sensations, twitching, or brief episodes of confusion. The person may stay aware or lose awareness.
  2. Generalized Seizure: Affects both sides of the brain. The seizures often cause loss of consciousness, muscle stiffness, jerking movements, or staring spells.

Seizure Treatment and Management

  • Medication - Anti-seizure drugs like valproate or levetiracetam help control seizures.
  • Lifestyle Change - Regular sleep, stress management, and avoiding triggers are important.
  • Ketogenic Diet - High-fat, low-carb diet may help, especially in children.
  • Venus Nerve Stimulation: A device that reduces seizures by sending signals to the brain.

Difference between Seizures and Epilepsy
Seizure is a single episode of electrical activity in the brain. It can happen due to low sugar, high fever, stress, etc. But Epilepsy is a chronic brain disorder where a person has 2 or more unprovoked seizures.
So, one seizure doesn’t mean you have epilepsy. But repeated seizures without a clear cause often mean epilepsy.

If you know something more, please share in comments section.

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This is such an important point! Seizures can be so much more complex than the typical image of shaking. Thanks for shedding light on it!

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This is actually well explained thanks for Sharing

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Thanks for sharing this info. I didn’t know seizures could happen due to things like low sugar or sleep problems. It’s good to learn that not all seizures mean epilepsy. The types and symptoms are also different, so people should not ignore them. I think more awareness is needed, especially for students and families. Early treatment and lifestyle changes can really help.

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Most of the seizures last under 2-3 minutes and they stop on their own. If a seizure is lasting more than 5 minutes, then we should know that it is a medical emergency. Seizures can be easily diagnosed through EEG, blood tests, and brain scans. Treatment of a seizure always depends upon what’s triggering it and sometimes it has been seen that seizures may never happen again if the cause is treated from the roots. Hyponatremia (i.e., low sodium) and hypocalcemia (i.e., low calcium) have been the major reasons that cause seizures specifically in older adults and that cause seizures during heatwaves.

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Very well explained. Thanks for sharing.

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Thank u so much for sharing I thought seizi and epilepsy both are but to day i came to know seizure are single electrical activity where epilepsy is chronic disorder phenytoin zonisep is also used for epilepsy

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Well explained thanks for sharing this valuable information. and making us aware about the differences between the seizures and epilepsy. many had a confusion between these two.

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Very Well explained how seizures are different from epilepsy.

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