Epilepsy: Grand Mal Seizure

When I was eight years old I learned what epilepsy was. My family was in the car driving to get dinner, with my dad driving. We were stopped at a stop light, and when it turned green we never moved. My mother looked over at my dad and realized he was having a seizure. At the time I did not know what that was; all I remember is a blur of my sister calling 911, and us going to the hospital. It was one of the scariest moments of my life; I thought my dad was dying. Later that night my mom explained to us what a seizure was, and that he was going to be okay. This was the first time my dad had a seizure, and the doctors did not know why. He was sent home from the emergency room that night with no answers and a shaken up family.

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Epilepsy and Seizure Disorder: All actions and functions travel to the different parts of the brain much like electrical wiring. The “electricity” moves from one area or wired circuit through another by jumping and traveling from area to area much like electricity Due to abnormal electricity and “jumping” seizures can occur. Epilepsy is where these electoral abnormalities are reoccurring often causing many seizures. The Tonic-Clonic or Grand Mal seizures that CM has is from muscles tightening and relaxing very fast due to the abnormal jumping of electricity in the brain. P. 417

Epilepsy is a condition in which an individual experiences recurrent seizures, all of which vary greatly. Caused by an occurrence of sporadic electrical surges in the brain, the categories of epilepsy are manifold. These seizures have multiple causes and treatment options and in the best cases, the seizure may be completely controlled. Epilepsy is one of the most common serious disorders of the brain affecting about 50 million people worldwide. Anyone could be diagnosed with epilepsy once they develop a tendency to have seizures.

Epilepsy is a complicated neurological disorder that affects the central nervous system, specifically the brain. It can be caused by the over-excitation of neurons, which occurs when the electrical activity is irregular or when two or more unprovoked seizures arise. The left hemisphere communicates to the right hemisphere by sending signals in order to let it know what’s going on (vice versa). In epilepsy, the signal goes back and forth, resulting in a positive feedback. Positive feedback is a self-amplifying cycle, where a physiological change leads to a greater change in the same direction. As the stimulus goes back and forth, rapidly it gets bigger each time, hence the stimulus process becomes unstable, and an epilepsy can occur. This

Generalized seizures can be further classified into tonic-clonic, tonic, clonic, myoclonic, absence, and atonic. Differentiating between them are its symptoms. Unconsciousness is common for all generalized seizures, which may have little to no warning. The excessive electrical charges would affect the entire brain in a generalized seizure.

‘Epilepsy’ comes from the ancient Greek word which means epilepsia, meaning seizure. According to Epilepsy Foundation of Eastern Pennsylvania, “Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes seizures, which is a change in the normal brain actively.” Seizures which is not a disease resulting from unusual electrical activity in the brain is a significant symptom for epilepsy. Epilepsy seizures last from few seconds to couple of minutes. While all seizures are not related with epilepsy, generalized seizure, Focal seizure, Status epilepticus are significant seizures for epilepsy. Epileptic seizures are formed by abnormal electricity producing from the brain. There are several kinds of epilepsy with different types of seizures. There is no specific age group, race, nationality or social level who are suffers most in epilepsy. People from all ages can affected by epilepsy, specially from two to sixty-five ages are more affected. It is very important for neurologist to early diagnose the type of epilepsy. Patient having multiple epilepsy with variety of seizures, without early diagnosis all of them it is very tough to treatment a patient in an effective way.

Tonic phase – is when the person at first experiences stiffness and losing awareness; as a result, the person falls to the ground. Hence, as the muscles (including those in the chest, arms, and legs) the person’s eyes roll back into their head (involving those contract and the back arches. As the chest muscles contract, it the person faces dyspnea – his face and lips may turn to a bluish hue, and he may start to make gurgling sounds.

A 29-year-male was suffering from idiopathic generalized epilepsy which usually occurred at night for 2 years. The patient had history of febrile seizure. His seizure was controlled with phenytoin (PHT) 200 mg daily but 3 months back he had 2 seizures because of drug default. He was prescribed oxcarbazepine 600 mg daily and PHT was increased to 300 mg. Three months later, he developed urticarial skin rash all over the body. Phenytoin and oxcarbazepine were stopped and he was referred to our hospital. On examination, he had fading skin rash. He was prescribed LEV 500 mg twice daily but on 9th day of LEV, he again developed morbilliform pruritic rash. Levetiracetam was replaced by clobazam 10 mg daily. One month later, he had a generalised tonic

Over 65 million people in the world today suffer from some form of epilepsy. This condition, consisting of a set of neurological illnesses that create seizures, has never been fully cured or even understood through the course of modern medical history. The root cause of epilepsy largely remains a mystery even today but a handful of scientific breakthroughs in recent decades have allowed for the millions of individuals who suffer from this condition to find some relief. The abnormal nerve cell activity occurring in the cortex that leads to the seizures that represent epilepsy has not been harnessed and controlled but it now can be manipulated and mitigated through a combination of different treatments and practices. Through a concise review

In a second type of epilepsy, known as generalized seizure, tonic clonic, grand mal, or convulsion, the whole brain is involved. This type of seizure is often characterized by an involuntary scream, caused by contraction of the muscles that control breathing. As loss of consciousness sets in, the entire body is gripped by a jerking muscular contraction. The face reddens, breathing stops, and the back arches. Then, alternate contractions and relaxations of the muscles throw the body into sometimes violent agitation such that the person may be subject to serious injury. After the convulsion subsides, the person is exhausted and may sleep heavily.

Partial seizures are divided into two categories: simple partial seizures and complex partial seizures. In a simple partial seizure, a small part of one of the lobes of the brain may de damaged. The person affected by a simple partial seizure won’t lose consciousness, and will undergo this type of seizure for about one minute or less. In generalized seizures, abnormal neuronal activity quickly arises on both parts of the brain. These type seizures may cause loss of consciousness, falls, or a muscle’s massive contractions.

Stepping into the room, I observed the woman on the table. Her head was locked into place with a metal frame. Looking into the opening of the head on the monitor, I saw the living, beating, red tissue that makes up the brain. It amazed me how anyone could work so carefully on the microscopic tissues that lie delicately inside of their protective layer, the skull.

A seizure will begin and end unannounced and abruptly, and cause unconsciousness (partial seizure) or complete unconsciousness (Grand Mal seizure). The seizure will last from one to two minutes leaving the affected person confused or sleepy when the seizure subsides. A person may be sore and

Depending on where and how much the brain is affected, there can be various symptoms. In a generalized clonic-tonic seizure, also known as a grand mal seizure, the person loses consciousness and falls to the ground. Following this, their muscles will tense up very tightly and they will begin to violently jerk. It is also possible to have another type of seizure called an absence seizure, also known as a petit mal seizure. In this type, it may not be apparent that the victim is seizing, as it only lasts a few seconds. Some signs of this can be: a blank stare, rhythmic movement of an extremity, rapid blinking, or chewing movements. One other type of seizure is a partial seizure. In this type, the victim is awake and aware of their surroundings. They can have symptoms of both grand mal and petit mal in addition to: nausea, experience of abnormal sounds and smells, changes in their vision, and odd behavior while not responding to outside stimuli such as other people around them. When patients experience these symptoms, it is important they seek medical attention and undergo a neurological exam. Other exams the physician may perform include "testing reflexes, muscle tone and strength, the function of