The feeling of numbness, tingling in parts of the body, sounds, distorted images of objects, feelings of happiness, fear, throat tightness, stomach nausea, limb jerking, bicycle-like movements, can all represent epileptic phenomena.
Impaired consciousness, although clinically significant, may not be an exclusive part of the seizure, explain neurologists.
What is a "brain storm," how do epileptic seizures occur?
There is not completely precise data, but it is believed that almost every 100th person in the world suffers from some form of epilepsy. It is an incurable disease, except in cases such as drug-resistant epilepsy, where surgery is possible. With adequate therapy, people with epilepsy can have a good quality of life, have a family and children. Experts emphasize that not all epilepsies are hereditary diseases.
The human brain consists of groups of neurons that are interconnected in networks, each with its own specific function. In a state of wakeful activity, neurons are stimulated asynchronously and in response to stimuli. However, in moments when a "brain storm" occurs, in which there is hyper-synchrony of neurons (groups of neurons within networks are activated simultaneously), an epileptic seizure occurs. If epileptic seizures occur spontaneously, then we are talking about epilepsy as a disease. There are forms of the disease that are inherited according to Mendelian rules (from parents to children), but for most epilepsies, we cannot say that. This means that the risk for offspring, if one parent has epilepsy, is slightly (insignificantly) higher than for children in the general population, according to experts.
Any mammal can have an epileptic seizure under certain conditions
The brain of every person can generate an epileptic seizure under certain conditions.
That threshold (we can imagine it as a high jump bar in athletics) is sometimes set high so that it cannot be "jumped over" in real-life circumstances, or it is "jumped over" after a sleepless night during which an individual drank, for example, 7 beers and 6 energy drinks. On the other hand, in patients with epilepsy, that threshold is set low, so that seizures occur spontaneously or after minor stimuli, such as a partially sleepless night, which would not cause a seizure in a healthy individual.
For the diagnosis of epilepsy, it is important that the seizure was not provoked but occurred spontaneously. Provoking factors are numerous, and some of the most common ones are high temperature/infection, use of proconvulsive substances and medications, lack of sleep, alcohol, head injury...
The attack lasts a short time
Experts emphasize that there are more than 100 different forms of epilepsy. It was once believed that migraines were also a form of epilepsy.
It has long been known that, although in some borderline cases, migraine auras and headaches may resemble epileptic phenomena, they are not. There are rare situations in which a migraine attack can provoke an epileptic seizure, and in that case, we speak of a condition called migralepsy (where any connection between migraines and epilepsy in a pathophysiological sense ends). What is common to almost all epileptic seizures is that they occur in a paroxysmal (sudden), stereotyped (identical, uniform), repetitive manner, and that they last a short time, after which the patient returns to normal functioning.
Seizures are frequent when patients' consciousness is preserved.
The manifestation of an epileptic seizure directly depends on the part of the brain affected by the "electrical storm." For example, if the part of the brain responsible for the perception of smell is affected, the patient may have an authentic experience of different smells.
The sensation of numbness, tingling in parts of the body, sounds, distorted images of objects, the experience of happiness, fear, tightness in the throat, stomach nausea, limb twitching, movements resembling riding a bicycle, all can represent epileptic phenomena. Impaired consciousness, although clinically significant, may not be an exclusive part of the seizure, i.e., seizures in which the patient's consciousness is completely or only partially impaired are very common.
How is epilepsy diagnosed?
Epilepsy is diagnosed through conversation. Anamnesis is crucial in establishing the diagnosis of this disease.
There are also additional diagnostic procedures (such as magnetic resonance imaging or electroencephalography) that increase the accuracy of the diagnosis, but they are often not necessary, according to neurologists.