Seizures

A seizure is an episode that is stimulated by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. During a seizure, a person may lose consciousness and experience violent muscle contractions, tingling, speech impairment, drooling and rapid body movement. There are six common types of seizures: grand mal (or generalized tonic-clonic), absence, myoclonic, clonic, tonic and atonic. These may be triggered by existing health problems, such as extremely low blood sugar or a stroke, though most seizures are associated with epilepsy. Seizures may occur for a variety of reasons, but the underlying cause is associated with the electrical activity over the whole surface of the brain. When this activity becomes abnormally synchronized, the brain’s nerve cells cannot communicate properly with each other. Medication is the most common form of treatment, but surgery is another option if the condition is more severe or doesn’t improve.