What all one needs to know about Epileptic seizure

According to a recent study, this is the most common neurological emergency in children and seizures are potentially fatal. In fact, up to 5 percent of affected children succumb to it and a third suffer brain damage. The longer the seizure, the greater the chance of long-term complications.
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder where abnormal brain activity induces unprovoked seizures. It can affect anyone regardless of sex, race, age and cultural background. Though uncommon, this condition can sometimes cause fatal epileptic seizures.

Medications can control the seizures to a certain extent. However, surgical intervention may be needed in some cases. Most people, however, have to be on medication throughout their lives to control seizures but, for others, it becomes infrequent and then stops completely as they age. One peculiarity about this disease is that it is more common in young children and the older generation.

WHAT CAN AN EPILEPTIC SEIZURE DO?

It can cause temporary confusion, uncontrollable jerking movements of the arms and legs, loss of consciousness or awareness and psychic symptoms like fear, anxiety or déjà vu. It can also make a person stare at the same spot for the duration of seizure. Though symptoms vary from person to person, it usually remains the same for each person.

WHEN DOES AN EPILEPTIC SEIZURE BECOME FATAL?

Epileptic seizures are usually not fatal and only 1 in 1000 patients die because of it, suggests some estimate. However, sometimes, it can cause death. Let us look at a few conditions that can cause fatal epileptic seizures.

Lafora disease

According to researchers  Lafora disease, an inherited form of epilepsy that results in death by the age of 30, can be caused by mutations in a gene that regulates the concentration of the protein laforin.  In Lafora disease, a person has normal development for the first decade of life, followed by an initial seizure in the second decade. These seizures become progressively worse and eventually it causes early dementia and death within 10 years of onset. Medications can help contain the initial symptoms, but there is no long-term treatment or cure yet.

Status epilepticus

This condition increases the risk of permanent brain damage and death.Usually, a seizure will stop by itself. But, at times, you may experience a long seizure or a series of seizures without recovering in between. If this carries on for 5 minutes or more, it is called status epilepticus.

What you can do: If this happens in a tonic-clonic seizure where people fall down and shake, you need to get medical help immediately. If a convulsive seizure carries on for more than 30 minutes,it can cause brain damage and even death. Call an ambulance if the patient has trouble breathing after the seizure or if one seizure immediately follows another with no recovery in between. You also need to act fast if the seizure lasts two minutes longer than usual for that person and if the seizure lasts for five minutes or more.

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP)

This is rare, but the risk is there. Only about 1 per cent or 1 in 1000 epilepsy patients die of SUDEP. Death usually occurs suddenly when the patient is sleeping, either during or after a seizure and the cause is often inconclusive. Most experts are of the view that this could be due to heart or respiratory health.The risk is greater in patients who have frequent tonic-clonic seizures or those whose seizures are not controlled by medications. This is more common in people with poorly controlled epilepsy and is rarely seen in children.

Though the exact cause of SUDEP is not known, experts suspect that it could be due to pauses in breathing during a seizure, which can cause death if they go on too long. A convulsive seizure may also result in an obstructed airway, which leads to suffocation. Though it is rare, a seizure may sometimes induce a cardiac arrest and this can result in sudden death.

What you can do: SUDEP is related to seizures. To reduce the risk of death, it is important to control seizures and especially tonic-clonic seizures. You can also reduce the risk of SUDEP by listening to your doctor and taking the prescribed anti-epileptic drug on time. Also, if there is any change in medication, see that it is gradual. Talk to your doctor about controlling seizures at night and use a seizure alarm if you have to. Keep yourself healthy.

A few other complications

Having a seizure at an inconvenient time can be dangerous to yourself as well as others. This is especially true if you drive. If you have a seizure in the middle of traffic, you may cause an accident and injure yourself and others. Such accidents, at times, can be fatal. In fact, many countries have very strict rules regarding issuance of driver’s license to a patient of epilepsy. You may also hurt yourself seriously if you suffer a fall during a seizure. Drowning is also a real possibility if you suffer one while swimming or even in a bathtub.

People with epilepsy can also die from problems that can happen during or after a seizure. One can inhale vomit, and this can be fatal. If you see anybody having a seizure, turn them onto one side immediately. This will allow saliva, vomit or other fluids to drain out of the mouth and not enter the lungs.

WHEN SHOULD YOU CONTACT A DOCTOR?

Consult a doctor immediately if you experience or see somebody experiencing the following symptoms:

• An  epileptic seizure that continues for 5 minutes or more.
• Breathing becomes slow and consciousness doesn’t return even after seizure stops.
• Recurrent seizures with no recovery time in between.
• Temperature is high.
• There is any injury due to seizures.
• A pregnant or diabetic person undergoing seizure          
  
   
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