Epileptic seizure: What to do when a child loses consciousness and convulsions? - Walla! health

2021-04-03T17:01:33.988Z

One in a hundred people suffers from epilepsy, a disease of the nervous system that causes seizures and loss of consciousness. A neurologist explains how to act if you come across a person or child who is having an epileptic seizure

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Epileptic seizure: What to do when a child loses consciousness and convulsions?

One in 100 people suffers from epilepsy - a chronic disease of the central nervous system.

But in addition to the seizures associated with the disease, many epilepsy patients also suffer from stigmas

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Why is this even happening?

Our body activity is based on electrical signals transmitted in the brain.

For most of us, there is a synchronous and normal activity of the brain that looks and sounds like an orchestra that plays well.

In patients with epilepsy, asynchronous or excessive activity occurs, resulting in seizures (such as 'fakes' of the orchestra).

There are many types of seizures, depending on the area of the brain where the abnormal or excess activity occurs.

For example, if only the area responsible for the hand is out of balance, a seizure is seen only in the hand, if the whole brain is out of balance, the patient will lose consciousness.

70 percent of patients will respond to medication, the rest will continue to cope with seizures (Photo: ShutterStock)

70 percent of patients will respond to medication and live a completely normative life, with no seizures.

The remaining 30 percent, unfortunately, suffer from a more complex disease and continue to convulse even with the medication.

These are the patients who will need the guidance of an epilepsy specialist neurologist who will examine whether they are suitable for advanced pharmacological or non-pharmacological treatments (e.g. epilepsy surgery, pacemakers, ketogenic diet and more).

These patients suffer from concomitant morbidity at a high rate - such as inability to drive, learning disabilities, difficulty finding a job and a negative impact on social life.

Did a demon enter it?

One of the main problems of epilepsy patients is not the seizures themselves but the many stigmas that accompany them.

Many still believe that the seizure is an expression of "a demon entering a patient."

Many people are afraid to be around because the seizures are frightening, and sometimes patients are even considered less smart people.

Apart from these there are also barriers to employment (employers may decide not to hire a person because of epilepsy) and barriers to education, due to difficulty in learning and loss of school days.

The whole family is taken care of

It is important to understand that treating the disease is not just treating the seizures.

The disease affects all areas of life.

My "I believe" is that I treat both seizures and the child and his family, who have to deal with the seizures and their consequences.

The treatment is multi-team in an epilepsy clinic.

It is important that patients become familiar with Soroka's Epilepsy Education Center, which provides a solution for all children in the country, and the Eyal Hospital Association.

Treating epilepsy is a daily job.

Bottom line, this is a very common disease and like any other chronic disease, one should not be afraid of it but extend help to patients and families.

Because of the stigmas - epilepsy patients suffer from a high rate of social alienation and emotional difficulties.

Soroka Hospital Epilepsy Awareness Day (Photo: Soroka Hospital Spokeswoman)

The world is much more open to other chronic diseases such as asthma and diabetes, although these are equally significant chronic diseases.

Due to the environment's treatment of epilepsy patients, they have a higher rate of social alienation and emotional difficulty, and some avoid certain career choices or higher education and stop themselves from growing and developing.

I seek to dispel these stigmas throughout the year, and especially on Purple Day.

What to do if you come across a person who has lost consciousness and started convulsing?

Call for help
Lay the sphincter on its side so that its secretions can come out and prevent it from choking.
If the constrictor lies on the abdomen - it should be turned
Do not try to stop the seizure
Do not push objects or hands into your mouth
Keep objects away from the body.
You can put something soft under the head
Do not try to do CPR
If the seizure does not go away within two to three minutes - call MDA

Packing purple gardening kits for families of epilepsy patients in honor of 'Purple Day' at Soroka Hospital, Beer Sheva (Photo: Soroka Hospital spokeswoman)

Every year, in many places in the world and also here at Soroka Hospital, outreach activities are organized on the subject of epilepsy.

Our uniqueness is in producing a happening for the whole family that aims to allow our patients and their families (brothers, sisters and parents) to enjoy fun activities - thanks to, and not because of, epilepsy.

This year, due to the corona, we were unable to hold a mass event.

Instead, we distributed to patients' families purple corona packages: a cupcake set with purple decorations and a purple gardening kit - a purple planter, a planting mix and seeds of cherry tomatoes (which children can grow and eat) and mint (which pleases every parent).

Those who help us fulfill this vision are the "Give Hope" association and the pharma companies.

The author is the director of the Department of Pediatric Neurology at Soroka Hospital

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Source: walla

All life articles on 2021-04-03