Atonic seizures are seizures in which the patient suddenly loses all muscle tone and collapses to the floor. These types of seizures can be difficult to diagnose because they resemble fainting. They are often a manifestation of epilepsy, which is...
The Epilepsy Foundation describes epilepsy as abnormal hyperactivity of the brain's electrical functioning. Epilepsy has no known cause in 60 to 75 percent of all cases. Where causes can be identified, reasons may include injury to the fetus,...
While atonic and tonic seizures usually occur during childhood, the seizures may continue into adulthood. Treating these episodes can be a frustrating process because they don't respond well to traditional antiepileptics (AEDs) like carbamazepine...
Atonic seizures are rare and are usually seen in childhood. If you don't outgrow the episodes, you may continue to experience periods of uncontrollable muscle tone loss, beginning with the eyelids. Atonic seizures often start with an unexpected...
A seizure, the production of sudden and strong surges in electrochemical impulses by a group of nerves in the brain, can cause a loss of consciousness, or a blackout. Seizures are classified based on how much of the brain is involved, which part...
Epilepsy is a neurological condition characterized by recurrent seizures. An individual is diagnosed with epilepsy if he has two or more unprovoked seizures. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, almost 3 million people in the U.S. have epilepsy,...
Medical seizures range in severity and have a number of potential causes. there are two main classes of seizures: epileptic, which are caused by a seizure disorder, and non-epileptic, which are caused by other factors, according to the Merck...
Seizures result from electrical signals that misfire in the brain. This may cause abnormal limb jerking, staring spells or even hallucinations. Some people may be unaware of their symptoms, losing consciousness, after which they later awake....
Absence seizures, also called petit mal seizures, last less than 15 seconds and are the result of abnormal electrical activity occurring in the brain. These types of seizures are common in children, and start between ages 4 and 12, according to...
Fear is a normal response to danger. But in anxiety, people are too fearful, and without any particular reason. In a seizure, the nerve cells of the brain send out electrical discharges, but in an abnormal and uncontrolled way. This leads to a...
Epilepsy, as defined by the medical experts at the Mayo Clinic, is a disorder in which someone has had at least two episodes of seizures. It is not possible to sum up the symptoms of epilepsy into one general category simply because a variety of...
Epilepsy is a condition characterized by abnormal electrical behavior in the brain. This can result in seizures, which can range from being barely noticeable to grand mal seizures, which cause convulsions and loss of consciousness. Epilepsy...
According to the Merck Manual, approximately 2 percent of people in the United States have a seizure of no clear origin in their lifetime, but two-thirds of those people never have another seizure. A diagnosis of epilepsy requires two such...
Epilepsy is a disease caused by surges of electrical activity in the brain, according to the Epilepsy Foundation. About 1 in every 100 people in the U.S. will have one seizure during his life. One seizure, however, does not mean that a person has...
Seizure disorders afflict a sizable fraction of the population, and infants are no exception. Epilepsy, in fact, is the most common neurological disorder in children, according to Dr. Timothy F. Hoban, assistant professor of neurology and...
A seizure is a neurological response to a sudden firing of neurons in the brain that results in convulsions. There are several types of seizures, including atonic, which causes you to lose control of your limbs temporarily; tonic, which stiffens...
The complications arising from surgically treating a tethered spinal cord depend on several factors. The most important of these is the patient's age, where young children have the best prognosis for symptomatic relief. However, the extent of the...
A tethered spinal cord results from tissue attachments in the spinal canal that cause abnormal spinal cord stretching. Release surgery seeks to sever those attachments to avoid or reverse neurological impairment. Several factors affect the...
According to the eHealthMD.com website, patients who suffer from seizures usually begin long-term treatment with anti-seizure medications after they have had two or three seizures. In most cases, the seizures respond to a single drug, and doctors...
Banzel is the brand name in the United States for a medication known generically as rufinamide. Physicians prescribe this medicine to help control seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS). LGS, according to the National Institute of...
Seizures--a symptom of epilepsy--are characterized by behavioral and physical changes (such as blackouts) caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. The presentation of symptoms varies depending upon the type of seizure and part of the...
The brain controls every action of an individual by continually sending and receiving signals through the spinal cord to all the nerves and muscles of the body. A seizure describes a brain dysfunction that occurs when these electrical impulses in...
Epilepsy is a disruption of the brain's electrical impulses causing seizures. MayoClinic.com states one in every 100 Americans may experience a seizure once during a lifetime. It cautions that this does not constitute epilepsy. Two unprovoked...
The two main groups of seizures, generalized and partial, are differentiated by the way they manifest in the brain. Generalized seizures are highly hereditary and involve both sides of the brain. Conversely, partial seizures are limited to a...
Epilepsy is a seizure disorder that affects nearly 3 million Americans, according to the Epilepsy Foundation. During an epileptic seizure, neurons (nerve cells) that normally send messages to and from the brain misfire and send the wrong signals....
The ketogenic diet is very high in fats, with some protein and a very small amount of carbohydrates. Children who have trouble controlling their seizures with medications may have the number of seizures reduced or eliminated when they follow this...
Generally diagnosed between the ages of 2 and 6 years old, children who have Lennox-Gastaut syndrome suffer from a severe form of epilepsy. Lennox-Gastaut patients usually experience several seizure types, including myoclonic, atonic and tonic....
Epilepsy and stroke are neurological conditions caused by abnormalities in the brain. A stroke, caused by a burst or blocked blood vessel in the brain, affects about 795,000 people each year, according to Washington University in St. Louis. The...
Atonic seizures result in a loss of strength in the muscles. Victims may notice drooping eyelids, falling suddenly and an inability to hold onto things. People stay awake during the seizure and, because of the sudden loss of muscle tone, can...
