What is the pathophysiology of seizures?

What is the pathophysiology of seizures?

THE PATHOLOGY OF SEIZURES. Seizures are caused by paroxysmal discharges from groups of neurons, which arise as a result of excessive excitation or loss of inhibition. The key unit of neurotransmission is the synapse, and the fundamental components of synapses are ion channels.

What happens physiologically during a seizure?

During a seizure, many things may happen. Sufferers may lose the ability to swallow, have difficulty speaking, experience twitching or jerking movements in the body, and even experience convulsions. They may lose consciousness, see flashing lights, experience visual hallucinations, and feel out of body sensations.

What do nurses do during a seizure?

Here are things you can do to help someone who is having this type of seizure:

1. Ease the person to the floor.
2. Turn the person gently onto one side.
3. Clear the area around the person of anything hard or sharp.
4. Put something soft and flat, like a folded jacket, under his or her head.
5. Remove eyeglasses.

What is the pathophysiology of status epilepticus?

Status epilepticus (SE) is defined as an ongoing seizure or repetitive seizures within 5 min without a recovery to baseline clinical conditions between the seizures. Various neurological diseases, including brain trauma, brain infection, brain tumor and stroke may induce SE (Hocker, 2015; Trinka and Kälviäinen, 2017).

What are the 3 major groups of seizures?

There are now 3 major groups of seizures.

• Generalized onset seizures:
• Focal onset seizures:
• Unknown onset seizures:

Is epilepsy a type of seizure?

Epilepsy is a disorder of the brain. People are diagnosed with epilepsy when they have had two or more seizures. There are many types of seizures. A person with epilepsy can have more than one type of seizure.

Can you fake a seizure?

We now understand that there is nothing false or insincere about most non-epileptic seizures. It is quite rare to find someone who is deliberately faking a seizure just as it is rare to find people who fake having other medical conditions.

Can you talk through a seizure?

People who have simple partial seizures do not lose consciousness. However, some people, although fully aware of what’s going on, find they can’t speak or move until the seizure is over. They remain awake and aware throughout. Sometimes they can talk quite normally to other people during the seizure.

What’s a pseudo seizure?

PNES are attacks that may look like epileptic seizures but are not epileptic and instead are cause by psychological factors. Sometimes a specific traumatic event can be identified. PNES are sometimes referred to as psychogenic events, psychological events, or nonepileptic seizures (NES).

Can anxiety cause a seizure?

Pseudoseizures, also called psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), are seizures that occur as a result of psychological causes, such as severe mental stress.

Can lack of sleep cause seizures?

Can sleep deprivation trigger a seizure? Yes, it can. Seizures are very sensitive to sleep patterns. Some people have their first and only seizures after an “all-nighter” at college or after not sleeping well for long periods.

What is a Nonepileptic seizure?

People with nonepileptic seizures (NES) have periods of seizure-like activity. NES are characterized by a loss of or change in physical function without a central nervous system problem. The loss or change causes periods of physical activity or inactivity that resemble epileptic seizures.

What is cardiac seizure?

When the heart beats irregularly, there can be sudden loss of consciousness and collapse due to lack of blood flow and oxygen to the brain. Sometimes there are seizure-like movements such as convulsions or muscle twitching at the same time.

Can stress bring on a seizure?

Stress, anxiety, and other mood disorders can trigger seizures, but these are fairly common among people with epilepsy. If you are frequently stressed, talk to your physician or a mental health professional to see if you have a treatable mood disorder or to discuss ways to lower your stress levels.

How can you tell the difference between a Pseudoseizure and a seizure?

Evidence-based answer. During an attack, findings such as asynchronous or side-to-side movements, crying, and eye closure suggest pseudoseizures, whereas occurrence during sleep indicates a true seizure.

What are psychosomatic seizures?

Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures are episodes of movement, sensation, or behaviors that are similar to epileptic seizures but do not have a neurologic origin; rather, they are somatic manifestations of psychologic distress.

What todo When someone is having a seizure?

First Aid

1. Keep other people out of the way.
2. Clear hard or sharp objects away from the person.
3. Don’t try to hold them down or stop the movements.
4. Place them on their side, to help keep their airway clear.
5. Look at your watch at the start of the seizure, to time its length.
6. Don’t put anything in their mouth.

Can seizures change your personality?

When epilepsy affects you for long periods, you may notice changes in your behavior, your feelings, and in how you see the world. Feelings of depression or anxiety are especially common. A few people with epilepsy experience psychosis (losing contact with reality).

Do seizures affect memory?

Seizures. Any type of epileptic seizure could potentially affect your memory, either during or after a seizure. If you have lots of seizures, memory problems might happen more often. Some people have generalised seizures that affect all of the brain.

How long does it take to fully recover from a seizure?

As the seizure ends, the postictal phase occurs – this is the recovery period after the seizure. Some people recover immediately while others may take minutes to hours to feel like their usual self.

Do seizures affect mood?

After a seizure, you may feel anxious or depressed for days or weeks, if the parts of the brain that affect mood are recovering from the seizure. Confusion or memory loss after a seizure can also be worrying or depressing. Before a seizure you may feel irritable, anxious, depressed or aggressive.

Should I go to ER after seizure?

Call 911 or seek emergency medical help for seizures if: A seizure lasts more than five minutes. Someone experiences a seizure for the first time. Person remains unconsciousness after a seizure ends.

How does a person feel after a seizure?

You may keep having some symptoms even after the seizure activity in your brain has stopped. This is because some symptoms are after-effects of a seizure, like sleepiness, confusion, certain movements or being unable to move, and difficulty talking or thinking normally.