(This blog was original posted on October 9, 2011)
Most
people imagine epilepsy as convulsive seizures with jerking, shaking, moaning,
tongue-biting and loss of urine/bowel control. But many seizures are
non-convulsive. Rather, the person stares blankly for seconds to minutes, or repeats
short inappropriate phrases that are out of context, or he engages in
activities of which he’s unaware. For example, these may include walking,
turning on sink faucets, smoothing down his clothing, clapping his hands, smacking
his lips, or acting fearful. The person may violently lash out at anyone who
touches or tries to restrain him during the seizure. Afterwards, he will have
no recollection of what transpired during the event.
Seizures can be
differentiated from normal staring/daydreaming by gauging how difficult it is
to gain the person’s attention. A person with blank outs due to a seizure does
not have conscious thoughts, but the daydreamer will. In order to ascertain
whether the person has lost contact with his surroundings during the suspected
seizure an observer should challenge him to carry out specific commands (e.g., “Put
your right thumb on your left ear,” or “Stand up and blink your eyes three
times,” and etc.). People who are having a non-convulsive epileptic seizure will
not carry out these commands, and they often deny losing contact with the
environment.
After most non-convulsive
seizures the person will have a period of mental confusion, called the postictal
state. An exception to this is the petit mal, or absence-type seizure which
occurs in children under eighteen years of age: see “Epilepsy Information” tag
at the right in this blog. When these petit mal seizures end the person regains
alertness immediately.
Lance Fogan, M.D. is Clinical Professor of Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at
UCLA. DINGS is his first novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment