Epilepsy is a neurological condition that causes a person to have seizures. When someone has two or more seizures without any known cause, it is diagnosed as epilepsy. The brain consists of nerve cells that communicate with each other through electrical activity. Seizures occur when abnormal electrical signals are transmitted in one or more parts of the brain. Anything that disrupts the normal connections between nerve cells in the brain can cause seizures. Let us know what is the problem of epilepsy in children and what is the difference between the problem of epilepsy in adults and children –
Differences between epilepsy in children and adults
Epilepsy in children is different from that in adults, there are specific types of genetic epilepsy syndromes in children. Some of them get better with age and some remain throughout life. It is important to find out the type of epilepsy syndrome in children for better management. Specific tests are needed to detect different types of epilepsy as children age. Most epilepsy in adults is caused by some secondary disorder in the brain due to conditions like infection, trauma, stroke, tumor, alcohol and drug abuse, hypoglycemia, hyponatremia.
These are managed with antiepileptic drugs along with treatment of the primary disease. This type of epilepsy requires treatment for a short period of time rather than lifelong and is also seen in generalized idiopathic epilepsy in adults. Which requires lifelong treatment.
Epilepsy in children
The 2 main categories of epileptic seizures are focal (partial) seizures and generalized seizures which are as follows-
Focal (partial) seizures
Focal seizures occur when there is abnormal electrical brain function in one or more areas on one side of the brain. Before a focal seizure, your child may have signs that a seizure is about to happen. It is divided into two categories. The first is simple focal seizure and the second is complex focal seizure. Simple focal seizures in which the child’s vision may change, more often the muscles are affected. For example it may involve only the fingers, or the larger muscles of the arms and legs. Your child will not lose consciousness in this type of seizure. The second complex is focal seizures that control emotions and memory functions (temporal lobe). There is a possibility of your child losing consciousness. For example, it may include closing the mouth, smacking the lips, running, screaming, crying or laughing.
Generalized seizures
• Seizures: Your child will probably maintain posture. His mouth or face may move or his eyes may blink rapidly. The seizure usually lasts no more than 30 seconds. When the seizure is over, your child may not remember what just happened. He can continue activities as if nothing has happened. These visits can happen several times a day. Absence seizures most often begin between the ages of 4 and 12.
•Atonic- It is also called drop attack. With an atonic seizure your child’s muscle tone suddenly decreases and he may fall from a standing position or suddenly drop his head.
• Generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTC) – Your child’s body, arms, and legs will twist (contract), extend (straighten), and tremble (shake). This is followed by muscle contraction and relaxation (clonic period) and postictal period.
• Myoclonic seizure- This type of seizure causes rapid movement or sudden jerk in a group of muscles.
Causes of epilepsy in children
• Imbalance of nerve-signaling brain chemicals (neurotransmitters)
• Brain tumor
• Stroke
• brain damage from disease or injury
Combination of the above symptoms can cause seizures in children. However, in most cases, the cause of seizures is not known. Make sure that if any such symptoms are seen in your child, get a checkup done in a hospital that provides round the clock specialist facilities and get the right treatment.
Treatment of epilepsy in children
The goal of treatment is to control, prevent, or reduce the frequency of seizures. Usually treatment is done with medicine only. Many types of medicines are used to treat seizures and epilepsy. Medicines are selected based on the type of seizure, age of the child, side effects etc. It is important to give your child medicine on time and as prescribed. Do not stop giving medicine to your child. This may make the seizures more frequent or worse. Your child may not need medicine throughout his life. If some children have not had a seizure for 3 to 5 years, their medicine is stopped.
[नोट- उपरोक्त दिए गए विचार लेखक के व्यक्तिगत विचार हैं. यह ज़रूरी नहीं है कि एबीपी न्यूज़ ग्रुप इससे सहमत हो. इस लेख से जुड़े सभी दावे या आपत्ति के लिए सिर्फ लेखक ही जिम्मेदार है. </strong></p>
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