What is a seizure?
A seizure is an outburst of electrical disturbance in the brain. Basically, a seizure is a temporary disruption in the functioning of the brain. It causes a change in the behavioral pattern of the person and decreases levels of consciousness. In fact, According to a study, everyone has a 10℅ chance of having a seizure, sounds scary isn’t it? There are various types of seizures and all of them have different levels of severity.
The general characteristics of a seizure Mostly, seizures can last anywhere between 30 seconds to 2 minutes but when a seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes it is a medical emergency and a neurologist should immediately attend it.
What is epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a disorder of the central nervous system in which brain activity becomes abnormal. This can cause seizures and at times the person may also lose consciousness. This chronic neural disorder can affect people of all age groups ranging from little children to old aged people, In fact, epilepsy is the fourth most common disorder of the nervous system with 65 million patients from around the globe. Surprisingly, the USA sees 150,000 new cases of epilepsy every year!
Epilepsy and seizure, what are the differences:
In many cases, people may get confused between seizure and epilepsy And tend to think that seizures and epilepsy are the same things. Although they are similar, they are two different things. Confusing right? Let’s understand this further!
Neurons are the basic functional unit and are responsible for the transmission of messages to the brain, but when multiple neurons send a wrong, it can cause a seizure.
A seizure is merely a one-time occurrence, On the other hand, epilepsy is a neural disorder which leads to abnormal brain activity And frequent seizures. So to conclude we can say that seizure is just one of the symptoms of epilepsy.
Does having a seizure mean having epilepsy?
The simple answer to this question is no! Not all seizures are due to an underlying epilepsy disorder. Seizures can also be caused due to a head injury or when enough oxygen does not reach the brain or due to high-stress levels. Surprisingly, according to a study 1 in 10 Americans undergo a seizure at least once in their lifetime, and the risk of having a seizure increases above the age of 65.
What causes epilepsy?
Sometimes epilepsy can be a genetic disorder and may be passed from one generation to another and can begin at a very young age. It can be acquired By a person in the course of his life due to infection of the brain, some sort of trauma, or a tumor that a person has suffered earlier.
What are the other symptoms of epilepsy?
- Confusions and brain fades
- Uncontrollable jerking of the arms and legs.
- Loss of consciousness and awareness
- Muscle provoked
- Shallow breathing
- Sudden fear or anxiety
What provokes a seizure?
- Low level of blood Sugar
- Low sodium levels in the blood
- High fever
- Consumption of drugs
Final conclusion
Epilepsy is a more serious And chronic disorder of the nervous system, one of its symptoms are. seizures and having seizures does not compulsorily mean having epilepsy since seizures can be caused because of many other reasons.
If you are having seizures then you should get in touch with good neurologists in India.
If you are looking for specialist neurologists in India then please get in touch.
