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Living With Epilepsy
What Are the Different Types of
Epilepsy and Seizures?
The Genre of Epilepsy and Seizure
Numerous researches are conducted to study epilepsy and seizures because
seizures and epilepsy are interrelated. Diagnosing epilepsy starts with
observing a seizure, and recurrent seizures can also characterize epilepsy.
A seizure occurs when a brain part/s receives abnormal and abrupt signals that
temporarily interrupt some of the brain functions.
The types of seizures are:
1. Partial Seizures. This takes place when an abnormal brain activity occurs in
one or more parts of one side of the brain. About 1/3 of patients with partial
seizures may experience aura before the seizures. An aura may be characterized
as dizziness, changes in smell, hearing difficulties or visual changes. About
60% of epileptic patients have this kind of seizure.
There are two types of partial seizures:
• Simple Partial Seizures or Focal Seizures. Seizures that last for
less than a minute. The patient stays awake and can experience nausea or
sweating. Muscles are usually the most affected; patients can experience
wrenching in an arm or a leg.
• Complex Partial Seizures. Seizures which last between one to two
minutes. These seizures start with a blank stare. Patients might be unconscious
during these seizures and different behaviors can occur such as crying,
screaming or lip smacking. The patient seems drunk and they may struggle against
those controlling them.
2. Generalized Seizures. Affect a large part of the brain thus there is a lost
of consciousness. The kinds of generalized seizures are:
• Absence Seizures. Cause a momentary loss of consciousness and can
last for less than 30 seconds. These may reoccur several times, as many as 50 to
100, a day. These seizures can be mistaken as a behavioral problem since the
patient looks as though they are just staring into the space while the eyes and
face move. After the seizure, the patient cannot recall anything from what
happened.
• Tonic seizures. Cause the muscles to be rigid and usually affect
arms, legs and back.
The seizure lasts for 2 to 3 minutes. For 10 seconds, the patient may lose
his/her consciousness.
• Clonic seizures. Cause the muscles on both sides of the body to
wrench. These mostly affect young children.
• Myoclonic Seizures. Refer to sudden movements of a group of muscles
in the arms, legs or whole body. These seizures may occur several times a day or
several days in a row.
• Atonic seizures. These cause loss of muscle tone. The patient may
lose consciousness and suddenly collapse; thus can be mistaken as fainting.
After only 10 seconds, the person may regain consciousness and can stand again.
• Generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Characterize by phases including
stiffening and/or shaking of legs and arms. The person may be sleepy, may have
fatigue, body aches and problem in his/her speech.
• Infantile spasm. Rare kind of seizure that affects infants before
six months. Infants can noticeably have slower movements of different parts of
the body. This can lead to complications and serious health problems.
• Febrile seizures. Common among children between six months and six
years old and is associated with fever. These kinds of seizures may be genetic.
Comparable to seizures, there are also many kinds of epilepsy syndrome with
accompanying symptoms. These are characterized by the part of the brain that is
greatly affected. Some of the most common types are:
1. Absence Epilepsy. Can be genetically inherited. The seizures usually start
during childhood but usually stop at puberty.
2. Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE). Also begins during childhood. The temporal lobe
is the part of the brain located near the ear. Constant repetitive TLE can harm
the hippocampus, the part of the brain for memory and learning processes.
3. Frontal Lobe Epilepsy (FLE). Frontal lobes are the biggest of five lobes and
are responsible for higher thoughts and control personality. These lobes are
located behind the forehead. Frontal lobe epilepsy causes brief but clustered
seizures that can abruptly start and stop.
4. Occipital Lobe Epilepsy. Occipital Lobes are located at the back of the
skull. This kind of epilepsy is the same as TLE and FLE though symptoms are
related to the eyes, like rapid eye blinking.
5. Parietal Lobe Epilepsy (PLE). These lobes are located between the temporal
and frontal lobes. This kind of epilepsy is similar to the other types but PLE
can spread to other areas of the brain.
Classifying seizures and epilepsies is a difficult task. There are various types
that are greatly dependent on the symptoms of some brain dysfunction. Seizures
and epilepsies are malfunctions of certain areas of the brain and vary among
different age groups and different person; as a result, there is a vast range of
classifications and not even one well-defined set of the ailments.
It will be beneficial if neurologists can group seizures and epilepsies into
different and well-defined types, but in reality this is more complicated. A
proper distinction of seizures and epilepsies will only be possible if there is
a huge amount of understanding of the structure, caused and the process of the
brain itself.
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Google
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Yahoo!
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