What actually happens during a seizure? According to Dr. Karen Parko at the San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center, an electrical discharge happens in the brain. The brain uses electrical and chemical discharges to communicate with itself and the body.
During a seizure, a group of neurons (brain cells) have an electrical discharge that can get off course during normal communication. Depending on what part of the brain the seizure takes place in, the body can act differently. Since there are so many places that the seizure can take place, seizures can look very different. A seizure that occurs in the area of the brain associated with motor ability will manifest itself as movement. A seizure that occurs in the area of emotions or sensations will give a person physical sensations or emotions occurring at irregular times.
For patients who ask Dr. Parko how they can tell if they have had a seizure, she says that it can be difficult, because you can’t always tell when you’ve had one. The best way to tell if you’ve experienced a seizure is if something recurrent happens the same way every time. Many patients with seizures can’t tell when they have had a seizure unless someone else says something to them along the lines of they were talking to them and they just seemed to space out or not talk back, or they weren’t acting like themselves.
How to Protect a Person that is Having a Seizure
If you experience a person having a seizure, the best thing that you can do is to help them to the ground. Help them to avoid anything around them that may be unsafe, and help to protect their head. Since the seizures don’t happen in the muscles, there is no reason to hold that person.
Complex partial seizures usually involve staring or behavior such as picking at the clothes or some small thing or object. An alteration in consciousness can occur as well. The person may be unaware of their surroundings or even unable to communicate. Tonic-clonic seizures (also known as Grand Mal) begin with the body stiffening (the tonic stage) and during the clonic stage there is jerking of the legs and the arms.
Patients of Northern California and the Bay Area will find the Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California (EFNC) to be a valuable resource. They can be found online at www.epilepsynorcal.org.
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