Epilepsy is also a brain disorder. A seizure or convulsion is caused when abnormal electrical charges occur between nerves in the brain. When this happens, the normal electrical activity is interrupted and this causes temporary loss of communication between cells. People who experience these seizures are unaware of what is happening to them. The seizures vary in intensity. Some people's body completely shake and they fall. Others have "staring moments" or temporary forget where they are or what they were doing. They notice a strange odor that doesn't exist.
I have witnessed the more severe seizures where the person convulses between 1 to 4 minutes. Their bodies become rigid and they shake from head to toe. After the convulsion has ended they remain unconscious and have trouble breathing. They expel some kind of foam from their mouth and generally cannot function for a couple of hours. These seizures leave them exhausted. Medication does exist to try and control the episodes but there is no cure. Patients have to routinely get their blood levels checked and other side effects are common. Such as swollen gums (to the point where there teeth are barely visible). It takes time for doctors to find the right combination of drugs to control the seizures and the patients will have to be under medication for life. I have known of a couple of cases where the patient has died during one of these episodes.
The brain still continues to surprise me.
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ReplyDeleteDo you think it can be triggered though, like by certain smells and what not? My heart goes out to this people for dealing with this. It is hard seeing someone that has no control over things like that. Do you know if they have little “symptoms” before one happens? Like that build up to the actual epilepsy seizure?
Smells do not trigger the seizures. Patients often think there is a strange smell, when there is none. The disorder is the seizure. Many people can live with this disease under constant medication and a doctors supervision. So people have episodes of more severe convulsions while others can have a minor hand tremble. However, big or small the seizure is the person still has no recollection of what happened. Driving and working is dangerous because of the y never know when it can happen.
DeleteI had not paid much attention to this disorder. It is something else. Do seizures always occur with this disorder or can one have the disorder and never have any seizures? It is unfortunate the diseases that occur to people it is even more tragic when young people are unaware of their decease and sometimes that winds up affecting to greatly. Yes, the brain truly is amazing.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was younger, like in the 1st grade, I had a boy in class who had epilepsy and I remember the teachers instructed us to move all the tables and chair away from him if he started convulsing. To not be scared or worried or try to do anything else except move the chairs and let it happen. I was a kid and thought it was strange and knew nothing about it, not even the fact that it starts in the brain. Now I have more information and know how a person who is having a seizure probably feels. I feel for the people who have to have severe surgery done to minimize the amount of seizures they experience. My heart goes out to all those people who are effected by this disorder.
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