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Over 40 Different Types Of Seizures - Revised

Sun, 03/25/2007 - 03:04

It has been said repeatedly that there are over 40 different types of seizures with more or less only the most 'popular' listed. Let's see if we can locate the ones that aren't. These types of seizures affect someone and I feel need to be noted. I'm curious to see how many can be located. Anyone interested in helping me find them, please list what you find here along with their description. Thank you! Take care and have a good day! -Spiz This thread is a revision of the first one in order to make changes and additions.

A Note from epilepsy.com's Editors (August 2017)

This forum post was originally created in 2007. Over the years, many of the links provided in the comments have expired or may not have been updated. To find reliable, expert-verified information, visit the following sections of this site:

In late 2016, the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) approved a new way of organizing seizures that reflects recent advances in our understanding of the brain and seizures. This new system will make diagnosis and classification of seizures easier and more accurate. Learn more here.

These terms don’t change what occurs during a seizure, but offer a different way of naming seizures. More accurate ways of naming seizures can lead to more appropriate treatment.

We also want to take this opportunity to remind site visitors...

Comments

Re: Sleep Disorders

Submitted by spiz on Sat, 2007-04-21 - 18:14
Frontal Lobe Seizures :* Prominent speech disturbances - May indicate dominant hemisphere involvement * Supplementary motor area (SMA) - Typically involve unilateral or asymmetric bilateral tonic posturing; may be associated with facial grimacing, vocalization, or speech arrest; seizures frequently preceded by a somatosensory aura; complex automatisms such as kicking, laughing, or pelvic thrusting may be present; responsiveness often preserved * Primary motor cortex - Usually simple partial motor seizures with clonic or myoclonic movements and preserved consciousness; jacksonian spread to adjacent cortical areas may occur, and secondary generalization is frequent; speech arrest and contralateral adversive or dystonic posturing may be present * Medial frontal, cingulate gyrus, orbitofrontal, or frontopolar regions - Complex behavioral events characterized by motor agitation and gestural automatisms; viscerosensory symptoms and strong emotional feelings often described; motor activity repetitive and may involve pelvic thrusting, pedaling, or thrashing, often accompanied by vocalizations or laughter/crying; seizures often bizarre and may be diagnosed incorrectly as psychogenic * Dorsolateral cortex - Tonic posturing or clonic movements often associated with either contralateral head and eye deviation, or less commonly, ipsilateral head turn * Operculum - Swallowing, salivation, mastication, epigastric aura, fear, and speech arrest often associated with clonic facial movements; gustatory hallucinations also may occur * Nonlocalizable frontal seizures - Rare, manifesting as brief staring spells accompanied by generalized spike/wave on EEG, which may be difficult to distinguish from primarily generalized absence seizures; may present as generalized tonic-clonic seizures without obvious focal onset * Nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy - Autosomal dominant inheritance; seizures occur mainly during sleep; characterized by marked motor manifestations, including dystonic posturing, jerking, bending, and rocking; difficult to distinguish from parasomnias...

Re: Re: Sleep Disorders

Submitted by spiz on Sun, 2007-04-22 - 18:31
Cataleptic Seizures :Catalepsy can be produced by conditions as varied as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy...Symptoms include: rigid body, rigid limbs, limbs staying in same position when moved, no response, loss of muscle control, and slowing down of bodily functions, such as breathing... Geschwind Syndrome :also known as Waxman-Geschwind syndrome is a characteristic personality syndrome consisting of symptoms such as circumstantiality (excessive verbal output, stickiness, hypergraphia), altered sexuality (usually hyposexuality), and intensified mental life (deepened cognitive and emotional responses) is present in some epilepsy patients. There has also been recent suggestions to extend the list of symptoms to include things such as guilt and paranoia for example. This syndrome is particularly associated with temporal lobe epilepsy... Paroxysm :an increase of symptoms or periodic attacks of a disease (such as malaria, asthma, migraine, trigeminal neuralgia, tachycardia, whooping cough, and epilepsy.) Paroxysmal Attacks :short, frequent and stereotyped symptoms that can be observed in various clinical conditions. They are usually associated with Multiple Sclerosis, but they may also be observed in other disorders such as encephalitis, head trauma, stroke, asthma, trigeminal neuralgia, breath-holding spells, epilepsy and Behçet's disease...Exercise, tactile stimuli, hot water, anxiety and neck flexion may provoke paroxysmal attacks. Mostly reported paroxysmal attacks are painful tonic spasms dysarthria and ataxia, numbness and hemiparesis... Reflex Anoxic Seizure :Condition of the brain where the child may become pale and limp and cease breathing, only to recover a short time later.Anoxic seizures are caused by a reflex asystole of the heart due to increased vagal responsiveness. They are non-epileptic. Focal Neurologic Signs :also known as focal signs or focal CNS signs are perceptual or behavioral impairments which are caused by lesions in a particular area of the central nervous system... GM2 Gangliosidoses :cause the body to store excess acidic fatty materials in tissues and cells, most notably in nerve cells. These disorders result from a deficiency of the enzyme beta-hexosaminidase... Tay-Sachs Disease :Tay-Sachs and its variant forms are caused by a deficiency in the enzyme beta-hexosaminidase A...Symptoms begin by 6 months of age and include progressive loss of mental ability, dementia, decreased eye contact, increased startle reflex to noise, progressive loss of hearing leading to deafness, difficulty in swallowing, blindness, cherry-red spots in the retinas, and some paralysis. Seizures may begin in the child’s second year... Sandhoff Disease :This is a severe form of Tay-Sachs disease. Onset usually occurs at the age of 6 months and is not limited to any ethnic group. Neurological symptoms may include progressive deterioration of the central nervous system, motor weakness, early blindness, marked startle response to sound, spasticity, myoclonus (shock-like contractions of a muscle), seizures, ...

Re: Re: Re: Sleep Disorders

Submitted by spiz on Mon, 2007-04-23 - 03:32
Over 40 seizures... Hypergraphia :an overwhelming urge to write. It is not itself a disorder, but can be associated with temporal lobe changes in epilepsy and mania... Cerebral Atrophy :In brain tissue, atrophy describes a loss of neurons and the connections between them...The pattern and rate of progression of cerebral atrophy depends on the disease involved. Diseases that cause cerebral atrophy include: ...epilepsy, in which lesions cause abnormal electrochemical discharges that result in seizures... Cortical Dysplasia :a benign tumor which occurs when the infant brain is developing in the womb. Occasionally neurons will develop that are larger than normal in certain areas. This causes the signals sent through the neurons in these areas to misfire, which sends an incorrect signal. It is commonly found near the cerebral cortex and is associated with seizures ... Focal Cortical Dysplasia :the most common cause of intractable epilepsy in children and is a frequent cause of epilepsy in adults. All forms of focal cortical dysplasia lead to disorganization of the normal structure of the cerebral cortex... Lissencelphaly :literally means smooth brain, is a rare brain formation disorder characterized by the lack of normal convolutions (folds) in the brain...Symptoms of the disorder may include unusual facial appearance, difficulty swallowing, failure to thrive, and severe psychomotor retardation. Anomalies of the hands, fingers, or toes, muscle spasms, and seizures may also occur... Microcephaly :a neurological disorder in which the circumference of the head is significantly smaller than average for the person's age and sex...Affected newborns generally have striking neurological defects and seizures... Hydrocephaly :sometimes known as Water on the Brain, is a condition in which abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain causes increased intracranial pressure inside the skull. This is usually due to blockage of CSF outflow in the brain ventricles or in the subarachnoid space at the base of the brain...About one in four develops epilepsy... Niemann-Pick Disease Type C :an inherited condition involving lipid metabolism (the breakdown and use of fats and cholesterol in the body) in which harmful amounts of lipids accumulate in the spleen, liver, lungs, bone marrow, and brain...Type C is characterized by onset in childhood, although infant and adult onsets are possible. Other signs include severe liver disease, breathing difficulties, developmental delay, seizures, increased muscle tone (dystonia), lack of coordination, problems with feeding, and an inability to move the eyes vertically... Todd's Palsy :also known as Todd's paralysis is a neurological condition characterized by a brief period of transient (temporary) paralysis following a seizure. The paralysis - which may be partial or complete - generally occurs on one side of the body and usually subsides completely within 48 hours... Tuberous Sclerosis :a rare, multi-system genetic disease that causes benign tumours to grow in the brain and on other vital organs such as the kidneys, heart, eyes, lungs, and skin. A combination of symptoms may include seizures,...

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