Seizures / epilepsy first aid management

Step-1 Do not restrain the person but use a blanket or clothing to protect his head from injury.

Step-2 After the seizures , help the person rest on his side with his head tilted back.

Step- 3 dont put anything in mouth

Epilepsy refers to a chronic condition in which repeated fits or attacks of consciousness occurs with or without convulsions ...know as falling sickness..

It is serious disorder of the central nervous system...it occurs in both children and adults .. Most attacks however occurs in childhood and in early adult life ... attack rates show a progressive decline in frequency with age...

Epilepsy is a very ancient disease which afflicted some of the world's greatest personalities....

The actual word epilepsy comes from the Greek word which means to seize upon...

The ancient people believed that evil spirit entered the body of the persons afflicted, seized upon his soul and threw his body into convulsions...

Symptoms

Epilepsy is recognized by recurrent sudden attacks at irregular intervals...The patient twitch convulsions and fall unconscious to the ground during these attacks which cause tremendous nervous upheaval...

There are two main types of epilepsy known as petit mal and grand mal.

PETIT MAL

Less serious form of epilepsy...attack comes and goes within a few seconds...The patient has a momentary loss of consciousness, with no convulsions except sometimes a slight rigidity , or there may be a slight convulsion attack such as a jerk , or movement of the eyes , head , trunk or extremities, with no perceptible loss of consciousness...The patient may not fall ...He may suddenly stop what he is doing and then resume it when the attack is over , without even being aware of what has happened. The petit mal attacks may occurs at any time in life but are most frequent in children...

Grand mal

The attack comes with a dramatic effect...

There are violent concentrations of the arms , legs and body accompanied by a sudden loss of consciousness.

Before the onset of an attack, some patient have a warning or aura in the form of strange sensations such as a current of air or stream of water flowing over the body , noises , odours and flashes of light ...

In a typical attack the patient cries out , fall to the ground, loses consciousness and develops convulsions.. with the convulsions may comes foaming at the mouth , twitching of the muscles , biting of the tongue, distorted fixation of limbs , rotation of the head and deviation of the eyes...

The patient may lose control over his bladder rectal muscles... The attack may last several minutes and is usually followed by a deep sleep.. on walking up , the patient may remember nothing of what happened to him...

People who suffer from epilepsy are not abnormal in any other way..they usually known that fits can be triggered off by particular stimuli , between epileptic attacks, their brain functions normally...

What causes epilepsy ?

The epilepsy denotes electrical malfunctioning within the brain due to damage to brain cells or some inherited abnormality...

There are many causes of epilepsy...

Digestive disturbances

Intestinal toxaemia

Strained nervous condition ate very often cause of petit mal

Grand mal usually results from inhereditary influences...

The serious shock or injury to the brain or nervous system. ..

Meningitis, typhoid and other diseases, attendant with prolonged high temperature, can also lead to grand mal ...

Epilepsy may be caused by several other factors. ..

It may result from allergic reaction to certain food substances, especially a particular form of protein which is the main constituent of meat ...

Circulatory disorders such as hardening of the arteries leading to the brain may also cause epileptic seizures ...This type is rare and occurs only in very aged people....

Chronic alcoholism

Lead poisoning

Cocaine and other such habits can also lead to this disease. ..

Other causes of epileptic Seizures include....

Mental conflict

Deficient minerals

Assimilation , particularly of magnesium and calcium and wrong metabolism...

According to some research hypoglycemia or low blood sugar is also involved in most cases of epilepsy