What Parents Need to Know
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[MUSIC PLAYING] CICELY DOWDELL-SMITH: A focal onset seizure is a burst of abnormal electrical activity on one side or in one part of the brain that affects one side or one part of the body or causes a particular type of emotion, sensation, feeling, or action. One out of 10 children will have a seizure in their lifetime, and the majority of those seizures will be focal onset seizures.
Sometimes it's due to a particular cause or it just happens one time and they won't have any more. 6 out of 1,000 children go on to have multiple seizures and they're diagnosed with epilepsy. The most common cause of childhood epilepsy is a type that has focal onset seizures, and that's called Rolandic epilepsy. It usually starts in kids around the age of 8, and the seizures actually go away by the age of 15. But during that time, kids who have this diagnosis can have different amounts of seizures.
Now, if you have a baby that has an abnormal brain development from before they were born or if they had some type of brain injury around the time of birth, then they may have the onset of focal seizures earlier in their lifetime-- so in the newborn period or in childhood. In newborns and small children, because their brains are not mature, the seizures can look different and they can spread different to different parts of the brain.
Also because they're not able to talk to us, it's hard for them to express some of the feelings that they might have with these type of seizures. So focal onset seizures can present in so many different ways because it depends on what part of the brain that abnormal activity is happening in. But you can break it down into broad categories.
So they can be motor seizures, which can affect one part of the brain. So it can be as subtle as some type of facial movement that you're seeing or maybe hand twitching. It can be a change in emotion. So an abrupt onset of uncontrollable laughter or anger for no particular reason. Or if a child is describing something that might seem like they're trying to describe a deja vu type of feeling.
It can be change in sensation. So a child might say that they smell something different or they have a weird taste in their mouth or they're seeing something that's a bit unusual. And then the other thing that I describe to parents is it may be a normal bodily function, but that just changes all of the sudden. So profuse sweating or drooling or changes in heart rate or abrupt onset of stomach pain or throwing up.
It's scary to see your child have a seizure of any sort, even if it's not the big kind that you might see on TV. So the first thing to do would be to stay calm. With some of these seizures, kids may still be awake and alert and able to communicate, and they're probably really scared as well. And so staying calm will help them stay calm.
The next thing would be to try to just make sure that they're out of harm's way. Because for some of them, they may not be able to be aware of their surroundings or be able to move around appropriately. So make sure they're not by any stairs or out of the street or there's no dangerous objects, and get them to somewhere safe.
If you're able to time the seizure, that's really important. That's important information for your doctor. And then the last thing is to videotape the seizure. Your doctor being able to see that will help them make the correct diagnosis and be able to make the appropriate plan. Don't ever put anything in anybody's mouth who's having a seizure.
I know that's something that a lot of people have heard to do. And the other thing would be never try to shake or jolt your child out of a seizure. Sometimes we're so scared and we just want it to end so we do that. But that's never going to stop a seizure, and it actually might make things worse.
Sometimes it's due to a particular cause or it just happens one time and they won't have any more. 6 out of 1,000 children go on to have multiple seizures and they're diagnosed with epilepsy. The most common cause of childhood epilepsy is a type that has focal onset seizures, and that's called Rolandic epilepsy. It usually starts in kids around the age of 8, and the seizures actually go away by the age of 15. But during that time, kids who have this diagnosis can have different amounts of seizures.
Now, if you have a baby that has an abnormal brain development from before they were born or if they had some type of brain injury around the time of birth, then they may have the onset of focal seizures earlier in their lifetime-- so in the newborn period or in childhood. In newborns and small children, because their brains are not mature, the seizures can look different and they can spread different to different parts of the brain.
Also because they're not able to talk to us, it's hard for them to express some of the feelings that they might have with these type of seizures. So focal onset seizures can present in so many different ways because it depends on what part of the brain that abnormal activity is happening in. But you can break it down into broad categories.
So they can be motor seizures, which can affect one part of the brain. So it can be as subtle as some type of facial movement that you're seeing or maybe hand twitching. It can be a change in emotion. So an abrupt onset of uncontrollable laughter or anger for no particular reason. Or if a child is describing something that might seem like they're trying to describe a deja vu type of feeling.
It can be change in sensation. So a child might say that they smell something different or they have a weird taste in their mouth or they're seeing something that's a bit unusual. And then the other thing that I describe to parents is it may be a normal bodily function, but that just changes all of the sudden. So profuse sweating or drooling or changes in heart rate or abrupt onset of stomach pain or throwing up.
It's scary to see your child have a seizure of any sort, even if it's not the big kind that you might see on TV. So the first thing to do would be to stay calm. With some of these seizures, kids may still be awake and alert and able to communicate, and they're probably really scared as well. And so staying calm will help them stay calm.
The next thing would be to try to just make sure that they're out of harm's way. Because for some of them, they may not be able to be aware of their surroundings or be able to move around appropriately. So make sure they're not by any stairs or out of the street or there's no dangerous objects, and get them to somewhere safe.
If you're able to time the seizure, that's really important. That's important information for your doctor. And then the last thing is to videotape the seizure. Your doctor being able to see that will help them make the correct diagnosis and be able to make the appropriate plan. Don't ever put anything in anybody's mouth who's having a seizure.
I know that's something that a lot of people have heard to do. And the other thing would be never try to shake or jolt your child out of a seizure. Sometimes we're so scared and we just want it to end so we do that. But that's never going to stop a seizure, and it actually might make things worse.
