SEIZURES

SEIZURES

Seizures are symptoms of a brain problem. They happen because of sudden, abnormal electrical activity in the brain. When people think of seizures, they often think of convulsions in which a person's body shakes rapidly and uncontrollably. Not all seizures cause convulsions. There are many types of seizures and some have mild symptoms. Seizures fall into two main groups. Focal seizures, also called partial seizures, happen in just one part of the brain. Generalized seizures are a result of abnormal activity on both sides of the brain. Most seizures last from 30 seconds to 2 minutes and do not cause lasting harm. However, it is a medical emergency if seizures last longer than 5 minutes or if a person has many seizures and does not wake up between them. Seizures can have many causes, including medicines, high fevers, head injuries and certain diseases. People who have recurring seizures due to a brain disorder have epilepsy.

  Most seizures are caused by abnormal electrical discharges in the brain or by fainting (decrease in blood flow to the brain). Symptoms may vary depending on the part of the brain involved, but often include unusual sensations, uncontrollable muscle spasms, and loss of consciousness(1).

  Some seizures may be the result of another medical problem, such as low blood sugar, infection, a head injury, accidental poisoning, or drug overdose. They also can be due to a brain tumor or other health problem affecting the brain. And anything that results in a sudden lack of oxygen or a reduction in blood flow to the brain can cause a seizure. In some cases, a seizure's cause is never discovered.

  Some kids under 5 years old have febrile seizures, which can occur when they develop a medium or high fever — usually above 100.4° F (38° C). While terrifying to parents, these seizures are usually brief and rarely cause any life-threatening, serious, or long-term problems, unless the fever is associated with a serious infection, such as meningitis.

  In kids under 5 years old, breath-holding spells can cause seizures. These aren't the spells where kids hold their breath to get back at their parents. Instead, these occur in kids who have an exaggerated reflex so that when they're hurt or emotionally upset they stop taking in a breath (with or without crying hard first). They then turn blue or very pale, often pass out, and might have a full convulsion-like seizure in which the body is stiff and they're unconscious and not breathing. While scary to parents, these spells usually stop on their own and the kids almost never suffer any harm from them. Call your doctor if such a spell occurs.

  In older kids, about 10% or more have standard fainting spells (also called syncope), which is often associated with a brief seizure or seizure-like spell. A child may stiffen or even twitch or convulse a few times. Fortunately, this rarely indicates epilepsy. Most kids recover very quickly (seconds to minutes) and don't require specialized treatment.

  Many of the new medicines being developed to treat epilepsy try to influence these neurotransmitters. They try to increase the activity of the inhibitory ones, which turn cells off, or reduce the activity of the excitatory ones, which turn cells on(1). Either way, the idea is to have less uncontrolled electrical activity in your brain, and therefore fewer seizures.ters. A seizure occurs when the brain's nerve cells misfire and generate a sudden, uncontrolled surge of electrical activity in the brain.

1 The effects of the Seizures from Al-Hidayah Medic

  Partial seizures start in one part of the brain. The electrical disturbances may then move to other parts of the brain or they may stay in one area until the seizure is over. A person having a partial seizure may lose consciousness. There may be twitching of a finger or several fingers, a hand or arm, or a leg or foot. Certain facial muscles might twitch. Speech might become slurred, unclear, or unusual during the seizure. The person's vision might be affected temporarily. He or she might feel tingling throughout one side of the body. It all depends on where in the brain the abnormal electrical activity is taking place.

  Generalized seizures involve electrical disturbances that occur all over the brain at the same time(2). The person may appear to be daydreaming, may stare off into space, or may pass out. The muscles may stiffen and the person might make sudden jerking motions, such as flinging the arms outward. He or she may suddenly go limp and slump down or fall over.

  Most seizures last only a few seconds or minutes. After a seizure is over, the person might feel sleepy or confused for a few minutes or even an hour or more. People who've had seizures may not remember the seizure or what happened immediately before the event. They may be alert and ready to resume whatever they were doing before the seizure happened. It varies from person to person.

 Qigong has been proven to help control this disease(3). This ancient healing practice is taught differently all around the world, but the basic fundamentals always remain the same and have been practiced for thousands of years among many different cultures.

  A child who is having a seizure should be placed on the ground or floor in a safe area, preferably on his or her right side. Remove any nearby objects. Loosen any clothing around the head or neck. Do not try to wedge the child's mouth open or place an object between the teeth, and do not attempt to restrain movements.

  Once the seizure seems to have ended, gently comfort and protect your child. It's best for kids to remain lying down until they have recovered fully and want to move around. If your child has previously had seizures, call 911 if the seizure lasts more than 5 minutes or is for some reason very alarming to you and you're worried for your child's safety. If your child is breathing normally and the seizure lasts just a few minutes, you can wait until it lets up to call your doctor.

  Following the seizure, kids are often be tired, confused, or exhausted and may fall into a deep sleep (called the postictal period). You do not need to try to wake your child as long as he or she is breathing comfortably. Do not attempt to give food or drink until your child is awake and alert. For a child who has febrile seizures, the doctor may suggest giving fever-reducing medicine (such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen), followed by a lukewarm sponge bath if medication doesn't bring the fever down. After a seizure — particularly if it is a first or unexplained seizure — call your doctor or emergency medical services for instructions. Your child will usually need to be evaluated by a doctor as soon as possible.

2 General things about seizures from Al-Hidayah Medic

3 Qigong proves to control seizures

  

Generalized seizures are produced by electrical impulses from throughout the entire brain, whereas partial seizures are produced (at least initially) by electrical impulses in a relatively small part of the brain. The part of the brain generating the seizures is sometimes called the focus. The most common types of seizures are listed below:

Generalized Seizures

There are six types of generalized seizures. The most common and dramatic, and therefore the most well known, is the generalized convulsion, also called the grand-mal seizure. In this type of seizure, the patient loses consciousness and usually collapses(4). The loss of consciousness is followed by generalized body stiffening (called the "tonic" phase of the seizure) for 30 to 60 seconds, then by violent jerking (the "clonic" phase) for 30 to 60 seconds, after which the patient goes into a deep sleep (the "postictal" or after-seizure phase). During grand-mal seizures, injuries and accidents may occur, such as tongue biting and urinary incontinence.

Absence seizures cause a short loss of consciousness (just a few seconds) with few or no symptoms. The patient, most often a child, typically interrupts an activity and stares blankly. These seizures begin and end abruptly and may occur several times a day. Patients are usually not aware that they are having a seizure, except that they may be aware of "losing time."

Myoclonic seizures consist of sporadic jerks, usually on both sides of the body. Patients sometimes describe the jerks as brief electrical shocks. When violent, these seizures may result in dropping or involuntarily throwing objects.

Clonic seizures are repetitive, rhythmic jerks that involve both sides of the body at the same time.

Tonic seizures are characterized by stiffening of the muscles.

Atonic seizures consist of a sudden and general loss of muscle tone, particularly in the arms and legs, which often results in a fall.

4 The symptoms of seizures from WebMB, Epilepsy Health Centre

Partial Seizures

Partial seizures are divided into simple, complex and those that evolve into secondary generalized seizures. The difference between simple and complex seizures is that during simple partial seizures, patients retain awareness; during complex partial seizures, they lose awareness.

Simple partial seizures are further subdivided into four categories according to the nature of their symptoms: motor, autonomic, sensory, or psychological. Motor symptoms include movements such as jerking and stiffening. Sensory symptoms caused by seizures involve unusual sensations affecting any of the five senses (vision, hearing, smell, taste, or touch). When simple partial seizures cause sensory symptoms only (and not motor symptoms), they are called "auras."

Autonomic symptoms affect the autonomic nervous system, which is the group of nerves that control the functions of our organs, like the heart, stomach, bladder, intestines(5). Therefore autonomic symptoms are things like racing heart beat, stomach upset, diarrhea, loss of bladder control. The only common autonomic symptom is a peculiar sensation in the stomach that is experienced by some patients with a type of epilepsy called temporal lobe epilepsy. Simple partial seizures with psychological symptoms are characterized by various experiences involving memory (the sensation of deja-vu), emotions (such as fear or pleasure), or other complex psychological phenomena.

Complex partial seizures, by definition, include impairment of awareness. Patients seem to be "out of touch," "out of it," or "staring into space" during these seizures. There may also be some "complex" symptoms called automatisms. Automatisms consist of involuntary but coordinated movements that tend to be purposeless and repetitive. Common automatisms include lip smacking, chewing, fidgeting, and walking.

5 The autonomic symptoms affect vital parts

The third kind of partial seizure is one that begins as a focal seizure and evolves into a generalized convulsive ("grand-mal") seizure. Most patients with partial seizures have simple partial, complex partial, and secondarily generalized seizures. In about two-thirds of patients with partial epilepsy, seizures can be controlled with medications. Partial seizures that cannot be treated with drugs can often be treated surgically.

REPORT FOR THE TRIP

SUNDAY, 10 September 2011 – The students from group 210 are ready for a trip to the orphanage, The National Mosque and Museum. The first destination is the orphanage that is called “Rumah Amal Limpahan Kasih”. Each of the students are given a task to interview at least one of the orphan to know about them more, how do they get to the orphanage. Before waiting for the orphan to finish their tazkirah at the surau , all the students had to do a “gotong royong” at that place. They all work very hard picking up the plastics bag, arrange the pots from another place, and pour water to the plants. It seem like a difficult work to do but the numbers of the IIUM students attending the trip is about 100, with the cooperation all the work is done in a flash. Moreover, they all enjoy doing gotong royong. After that, they all head back to surau. The entire orphans are ready to interview by the UIA students. They all are order to pick at least one orphan in their own group. There are about 20 and above groups divided. They start picking their orphan, but it isn’t easy at it is. Some are willing to be interview but some of them not. Each group had their own style of interview, some of them just ask them directly about them and some just give entertaining things to do to get to know them even better. In my group, I draw them something to make them comfortable with us. They all surely enjoy it. There is this one orphan really like to draw. His name is Afiq. I give him advice to keep polishing his skills and try to become architecture or a fine artist.

After the interview, the IIUM students and the orphan play some games and really it is very exciting. After that, it is time for the UIA students to go to their next destination, The National Mosque. Before that, the orphans and the IIUM students taking pictures together. All the IIUM students are happy at the orphanage. They all go inside the bus and off to The National Mosque that is located at Puchong, Kuala Lumpur. As they are arrived at that place, they all enjoy their lunch before Zohor prayer. After that, all the IIUM students go to do a Jemaah together with Ustad Maulana Shah. The design of the structure of the Mosque is really a mind blowing. All the details are just amazing. Next, we all off to the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia. The place is located right beside The National Mosque. All the IIUM students is very excited to in there. Right after we step in there, the person in charge to handle us order us to gather in a room. He brief us about the Museum and the artifacts in there. They said that all the artifacts are original and not a replica. There are many artifacts that blow our mind. There were models of Mosque from different country. All of the models are very well detailed. The museum also have ancient coins that really attracts my intention. After looking and study all the artifacts, most of the students go to the museum’s shop and buy things to symbolized that we are once visited here. All the IIUM students take 1 more final picture and right away go the bus and go back to IIUM, PJ. 

Reported by,

( Muhammad Ammar bin Azizi)