by Karen Reams

Created on: May 11, 2008

Epilepsy is the most common serious neurological condition and is caused by electrical changes in the brain's neurons. The reasons for someone having epilepsy are usually unknown but can include antenatal factors, family history, jaundice and some drugs that the Mother takes during pregnancy.. There are also some external factors that can be taken into consideration. Something that affects the brain from the outside such as a temporary lack of oxygen which can be caused by an injury or birth damage, susceptibility to flashing or flickering lights (photosensitivity), severe infections often associated with brain infections and certain severe diseases.

There are in fact more than forty types of seizure and are usually classified as either generalized seizures or partial seizures. They do need to be managed in different ways though.

Generalized seizures

Tonic/clonic seizure

The tonic/clonic seizure used to be referred to as 'grand mal'. The start of this type of seizure is sudden and a third of people that have these seizures also experience auras where they can see colored lights or taste and smell something quite specific.

The second stage is the tonic or spasm stage. The body of the person seizing will become stiff and they will fall to the floor and lose consciousness. The face may become pale and distorted with they eyes fixed in one position, often rolled back. The back and neck may arch with arms flexed and hands clenched. He may utter a piercing cry, become incontinent and bit the inside of his cheek during thee first spasm. There may also be frothing at the mouth and difficulty in swallowing saliva.

Once this stage has been reached the clonic stage will begin. During the clonic phase a person will start twitching. This can either be just the face or the whole body and can last from seconds to several minutes.

Once the clonic stage has come to an end the post convulsive stage is reached. In the post convulsive stage a person is usually very sleepy and may complain of a headache. They may also appear dazed and have a memory loss of the convulsion.

Absences
There are other generalized seizures that can occur and these can be much less dramatic in presentation. The most significant to be aware of are 'absences'. An absence is a brief interruption of consciousness without any other signs except perhaps for the fluttering of the eyelids. This is especially common in children and used to be known as 'petit mal'.

Partial seizures

Simple partial seizures

During a simple partial

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