Types of Seizures
Posted on 12/01/2011
There are so many kinds of seizures that epilepsy specialists are still updating their thinking about how to classify them. Usually, they classify seizures into two types, primary generalized seizures and partial seizures. The difference between these types is in how they begin.
Primary generalized seizures begin with a widespread electrical discharge that involves both sides of the brain at once. Hereditary factors are important in many of these seizures. Epilepsy in which the seizures begin from both sides of the brain at the same time is called primary generalized epilepsy. Primary generalized epilepsy is more likely to involve genetic factors than partial epilepsy, in which the seizures arise from a limited area of the brain.
Partial seizures begin with an electrical discharge in one limited area of the brain. Some are related to head injury, brain infection, stroke, or tumor, but in most cases the cause is unknown. One question that is used to further classify partial seizures is whether consciousness (the ability to respond and remember) is "impaired" or "preserved." The difference may seem obvious, but there are actually many degrees of impairment or preservation of consciousness.
The following factors may increase the risk of seizures in people predisposed to seizures:
· Stress
· Sleep deprivation or fatigue
· Insufficient food intake
· Alcohol use or drug abuse
· Failure to take prescribed anticonvulsant medications
About half of the people who have one seizure without a clear cause will have another one, usually within six months. You are twice as likely to have another seizure if you have a known brain injury or other type of brain abnormality. If you do have two seizures, there is about an 80 percent chance that you will have more. If your first seizure occurred at the time of an injury or infection in the brain, you are more likely to develop epilepsy than if you did not have a seizure in that situation.
