Symptoms Associated With Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the central nervous system. The disorder causes abnormal electrical activity throughout the brain, which most commonly leads to seizures. Some individuals also experience unusual behavior, strange sensations or sensory input, and sometimes a brief and total loss of awareness. The condition can develop in anybody, and no gender or ethnicity seems more susceptible to epilepsy. There are a wide range of symptoms associated with epilepsy because of the many ways seizure activity can affect the brain. To be diagnosed with epilepsy, generally individuals need to have a minimum of two unprovoked seizures. Some medications can help control seizures, and surgery is sometimes an option. Children with epilepsy sometimes outgrow the disorder as they age, while some require treatment for their entire lives.
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Loss Of Awareness Or Consciousness
Epilepsy can affect anything an individual's brain typically has control over. Some patients experience a loss of awareness or consciousness. Focal seizures occur when abnormal electrical activity affects just one portion of the brain. A focal seizure with impaired awareness can cause a loss of awareness or consciousness. In the past, they've been called complex partial seizures. Patients who experience these seizures might stare blankly into space and fail to respond to external stimuli. They won't respond normally to the environment and may perform strange and repetitive movements. Some common movements include walking in circles, swallowing, chewing, and hand rubbing.
When seizures involve all parts of the brain, they're called generalized seizures (of which there are many subtypes). Absence seizures occur commonly in children, and they typically cause patients to stare into space and make subtle movements like lip smacking or eye blinking. Absence seizures typically cause a very short loss of awareness. Tonic-clonic seizures, also known as grand mal seizures, can cause affected individuals to abruptly lose consciousness. They also present with shaking and tremors, and they sometimes include a loss of bladder control.
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Temporary Confusion
Temporary confusion is one of the common signs of epilepsy, and it may occur before, during, or following a seizure. Individuals who experience confusion before a seizure may be able to realize more serious seizure symptoms are on the way. Seizures can sometimes cause temporary confusion even if they don't cause a total loss of consciousness. One type of seizure is a focal seizure without loss of consciousness, otherwise known as a simple partial seizure. These may alter the patient's emotions and make them confused. They may also cause individuals to experience confusing sensory hallucinations that don't actually exist. Patients are also often confused when they come out of a seizure. It helps to have someone calmly explain where they are and what's happened. If the confusion lasts for a long time, the patient should seek medical help, but typical confusion will subside within a matter of seconds or just a few minutes. If individuals see someone have a seizure, they can sit with them and help them with the confusion.
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