A seizure is a sudden and uncontrolled electrical disturbance that occurs in the central nervous system and causes a variety of behavior, movements or level of consciousness. Seizures can vary widely in severity and duration and are caused by many factors. Epilepsy is a condition that can trigger a seizure.
Epilepsy is a mental disorder that is sometimes called a “seizure disorder” because the main symptom of epilepsy is a seizure. The CDC estimates that 3 million adults and 470,000 children nationwide have epilepsy.1
This means that there are more than 3.4 million people in the country who may experience seizures, because the compound is only a contributing factor. Epilepsy is a chronic condition, and some experts estimate that there are at least 1 million people in the United States who have uncontrolled epilepsy, also known as drug-resistant epilepsy.2
According to the US Census Bureau,3 In 2020, there were 258.3 million adults living in the United States. These sheer numbers mean that at one point or another, you may have to witness one in public. To help you know what to do in that situation, let’s learn how to recognize what a shock looks like and how to help if you’re stuck. Since epilepsy isn’t the only reason a person can have a seizure, let’s start with some of the physical changes that can trigger a seizure.
What can capture?
Epilepsy is a loose term that refers to a group of neurological disorders characterized by recurrent seizures. People can be diagnosed with the disease as children or adults, and while the exact cause is not fully known, in general, it is the result of abnormal nerve signaling in the brain.4
There are underlying medical conditions that can cause “acquired epilepsy,” which means you develop it as an adult or after a medical condition or injury. Causes of acquired epilepsy include head trauma, infectious disease, stroke, and tumors. Abnormalities of the brain structure may cause recurrent seizures.
According to the treatment of epilepsy,5 Up to 50% of people worldwide suffer from idiopathic epilepsy, which means that the exact cause cannot be identified. Each year, more than 150,000 people are diagnosed with the disease. This means that it affects more people than cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and ALS combined.
According to the CDC,6 The estimated number of people with active epilepsy is not evenly distributed across the United States, with states containing the majority of people in California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and northeastern states including Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. .
Not everyone who has seizures has epilepsy. Almost anything that can disrupt neurological communication can also lead to seizures. For example, a high fever can lead to a febrile seizure. high blood sugar,7 Lack of sleep, low blood sodium, legal or illegal drugs such as amphetamines or cocaine, extreme alcohol abuse or withdrawal from alcohol and drugs can also cause constipation.8
For different types of periods of different symptoms
The brain is an extraordinarily complex organ and when neural connections are disrupted, the symptoms that result can vary. Seizure types are divided into focal seizures and generalized seizures, each of which has subcategories. Generally speaking, symptoms or warning signs may include:9,10
Staring into space |
Stiffness of the body and extremities |
Twitching movements in arms and legs |
Breathing problems |
Loss of consciousness |
Loss of bowel and bladder control |
Not responding to noises or words |
look worried |
Clap your head |
Drowsiness and rapid eye blinking |
Cognitive or emotional changes such as fear and anxiety |
Focal seizures affect one part of the brain and were once called partial seizures.11 A person may have a central seizure with or without loss of consciousness. During a simple focal seizure, the area of the brain affected by the inactive electrical impulse will show symptoms. Usually, these muscles affect movement that is limited to one or two muscle groups.
During complex central seizures, a person loses consciousness, but they appear aware and awake. People may not go out, but they do not know what is happening around them. People who have a complex focal seizure usually have some unusual behavior, such as lip smacking, crying, laughing or screaming.
Seizures may involve many areas of the brain, and are called generalized seizures.12 There are several types of generalized seizures, but the most well-known are tonic-clonic seizures, which were once called grand mal seizures. These are the types usually shown in movies or TV.13
The symptoms of tonic-clonic seizures are dramatic, but they are not the most common type of seizure. Tonic-clonic seizures cause a sudden loss of consciousness with a combination of loss of bladder control and muscle stiffness and repeated jerking.
Two other types of generalized seizures also involve muscle groups. An atonic seizure causes a person to lose muscle control and suddenly fall to the ground. A trip or fall can cause other significant injuries, especially if the person hits their head or is struck by something sharp or hard. Myoclonic seizures cause brief jerks or jerks in the arms and legs, but there is usually no loss of consciousness.
Finally, you may observe absence seizures that were once called petit mill seizures. These attacks usually occur in children. You may notice that the person is walking in space or making subtle body movements. These types of seizures can last up to 10 seconds and a person can have several hundred each day.
Three stages of occupation
There are three distinct stages of seizure. The first is called the prodromal phase, in which you experience warning signs that a seizure may be coming. For some, these symptoms may occur hours or days after a seizure. Prodromal symptoms may include:14
A sense of impending doom or fear |
A sound or tone that is the same every time before a seizure |
Difficulty finding words or forming clear thoughts |
The feeling of the butterfly of the stomach |
Things like hearing that you are under water |
Feel like you’re in Alice in Wonderland, where you feel small and everything else is big or vice versa. |
A sense of deja vu where things are familiar or opposite – everything is unfamiliar |
The prodromal phase is the first stage of constipation.15 Once the seizure begins, the person is in the ictal phase. The ictal phase begins with the first symptom of a seizure and ends with the end of visible activity. The length of time and the symptoms you see will depend on the type of seizure.
The last stage of constipation is called the posteclamptic phase. It can last minutes or hours, also depending on the type of seizure, the area of the brain affected and the length of the seizure. During the postnatal phase, people are usually tired, have trouble remembering, muscle aches and may have trouble speaking or writing. Some may experience fatigue, headaches or lose bladder control.
How to help if you are stuck
If you recognize the signs and symptoms of a seizure, your main goal is to keep the person safe. A seizure-related injury can occur when a person falls to the ground or repeatedly hits their head with a hard object.16 The best thing to do is to help them on the floor. Do not try to keep them standing or in a chair.
Once they are lying on the floor, place something soft under their head, if they experience a jerking motion in their neck, they will not hit their head on the floor. Don’t put anything in their mouth that makes it impossible to swallow. It is important that you do not hold their arms or legs, as muscle spasms can damage bones or muscles if their extremities are restrained.
There’s nothing you can do to stop a seizure, so don’t yell at them or try other tricks. It is important to keep track of how long the person is doing the constipating activity. If it lasts more than five minutes or they start to recede, call 911 or the emergency services number in your area. While these conditions are rare, they can be life-threatening.
Other conditions that also require emergency services are if the person has water retention, difficulty breathing or if they are pregnant. If you learn that this is their first time, you should also call emergency services.
They may breathe intermittently when they are actively breathing. If you can safely roll them onto their side while they are crawling, place them in the recovery position. If you can’t roll them safely, wait until they stop hurting and then roll them into the recovery position.
The recovery position holds the body so the airway has the best chance of staying open and flowing out of the mouth through gravity.17 Start by removing the glasses if the person is wearing them.
Don’t turn them over on their front because it puts extra body weight on their lungs and makes it difficult to breathe. Only move a person into a recovery position by themselves if you believe there is no spinal injury. Start kneeling in their side. Move the arm that is closest to you at a right angle to their body with their shoulders bent and their palm facing up. Bring the other hand across its body and place it on the side of the cheek that is facing you.
While placing their hand on their cheek, pull the far leg up so the foot is flat on the floor. Then, pressing the back of their hand against their cheek, pull the far leg so their body turns toward you and onto their side. At this time, you can adjust the legs and arms so that they are bent at right angles and pull the head back a little, lifting the chin, so the airway remains open.
They are awake and alert – now what?
Once the person slowly begins to recover and wake up, they can stay in the recovery position until they are ready to sit on the floor in a safe place. They should not be allowed to leave or eat or drink until they are fully awake and alert. Stay with them until they are fully aware of what is going on and you can tell them what happened.18
If you learn that this is their first attack, call emergency services so that they can be fully evaluated at the hospital. While this may be the first idiopathic seizure, it may also be the first sign of injury as a result of a minor stroke, brain infection, abnormal growth or hitting their head in the previous hours or days.
Witnessing a seizure can be overwhelming at first, but when you know what to do, you can help prevent further injury and ensure that people are seen by emergency services when it’s needed.