©2018 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved. Caregivers of children who have been seizure-free for several years should speak to their doctor about the possibility of reducing or coming off medication.People should not stop treatment without medical consultation, as seizures may come back or get worse.Antiepileptic drugs do not control seizures in all children. There are many kinds of seizures. A Seizure Action Plan contains the essential information school staff may need to know in order to help a student who has seizures. Most happen randomly, with no obvious pattern. Absence seizures are more common in children between the ages of 4 and 14. All rights reserved. Seizures represent abnormal brain activity that leads to a change in movement, focus or attention, or level of awareness. Absence seizures, for example, are very easy to miss, whereas GTC seizures are much easier to identify.Parents and caregivers should watch for when older children appear absent at inappropriate times, such as in the middle of playing, eating, or having a conversation.Periods of rapid blinking, staring, or confusion can also indicate a seizure.
There are different kinds of seizures in children that can occur in different parts of the brain. Other symptoms include nausea, pale skin, and sweating.Generalized seizures affect both sides of the brain and usually cause a loss of consciousness. These seizures typically affect a specific muscle group, such as in the fingers or legs, and do not involve a loss of consciousness.The person having a focal aware seizure may appear “frozen” and unable to respond but can usually hear and understand things going on around them. In this therapy, a device sends small electric currents to the nervous system.In some cases, specific children can have surgery to remove a portion of the brain. Common triggers include:It can be difficult to diagnose some forms of epilepsy in children, especially infants and young children.To help the doctor make a correct diagnosis, caregivers should keep a detailed description of a child’s symptoms.
Febrile seizures can happen in children younger than 6 years old. Make a Seizure Action Plan. Ohtahara Syndrome. Recognizing a seizure can be challenging, especially in very young children, or in children who cannot communicate what is happening.Identifying a seizure depends on many factors, including the age of the child and the type of epilepsy or seizure they have. Epilepsy is relatively common in children. *Division of Epilepsy and Division of Child and Adolescent Neurology, Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN Epilepsy is one of the most common neurologic disorders seen in children, with the highest incidence in the first year of life. These surgeries may prevent or reduce seizures.The outlook for epilepsy in children varies, depending on the child and the type of epilepsy they have.With treatment, most children and adults with epilepsy live full lives.
In these cases, other treatments may be necessary.If medications are not sufficient, some children may be able to try a If epilepsy does not respond to drugs, a doctor may recommend neurostimulation. It can also be helpful to take a video recording of the child during a seizure.A doctor will usually diagnose epilepsy when more than one seizure occurs, and where there is no apparent reason for it, such as fever or trauma.After a child receives an epilepsy diagnosis, their caregivers and doctor have to work together to determine the types of seizures the child has and what kind of epilepsy they have.