The brain and a seizure

[KelVarQ]

Hi all, To be honest in all the years of dealing with E I don't think I've ever asked the question, "Does having seizures damage ones brain?" For example: Are E patients at higher risk for dementia and per se' alzheimers (< don't know about spelling) or any other type of brain problems? I've had a lot of seizures and now I wonder if all these seizures are truly hurting my brain? It seems like it would, but I feel fine and actually after surgery my cognitive function was truly never better even prior to having E. Yes, I'm now having seizures again and I'm just curious if these seizures (simple partials) truly damage our brains. Just curious. Thanks

 

[darcness]

From everything I've seen, seizures don't actually cause damage to the brain unless they are status in nature (happening non-stop for extended periods of time). I think it's one of those things that many people who aren't edcuated about seizures think happens with every seizure. My wife's mom was adament that her seizures were causing brain damage or that she could die at any minute from them.

Yes, there is SUDEP, but it's highly unlikely, especially if you're not prone to status, which my wife is not. She's never been status.

Now there are other factors. For instance having a seizure and falling, hitting your head. That could cause damage to your brain. Or car accidents and the like. But those would be caused by other factors, the seizure being related, but not the primary cause of injury, if you get what I'm saying.

 

[KelVarQ]

Yes, I get it

Hi Darcness : ) Yes, I get what you're saying and it makes sense. Thankfully I'm not prone to status type seizures. I use to get the aruas A LOT throughout the day but I don't think that's considered status, especially since I wouldn't lose consciousness except for 10-15 seconds of so. Haven't had the aura though in years. Thanks for the quick response : ) AGAIN!

 

[Shelley]

hmmm...

Don't know myself. I think that if you stop breathing during a seizure, there may be damage. But then again, this would be true of anybody that stops breathing for any length of time. Probably people with sleep apnea as well.
I know I don't feel as smart after a seizure, and it seems it takes longer to get back up to speed, because it seems my seizures are getting worse, but I'm on the honor roll at school. Go figure.

 

[Crystal11]

If a seizure ends naturally and doesn't continue- brain damage is probably not something that would happen. They brain has its own protection process that happens when a seizure starts up and ends. The Brain wants to stay safe as possible during the electrical discharges. You recover normally after a seizure and your brain is protected as well. If you have status epilepticus, then you might need to worry. Prolonged seizures and seizures the progress to bigger seizures might cause some troubles in learning or development but usally in children.


There is probably a lot of things still to be learned about our brains. For some reason, i can compose music much better after a seizure- after I've rested. Sometimes I feel upset or kinda quiet and walk into the studio and sit down at the piano and theres a song already written- seems like it comes from somewhere else, not me- even though I compose it. Interesting to think about sometimes.

Take care everyone,
Crystal

 

[Nakamova]

I think the meds (especially the older ones) can cause as much "brain damage" as a seizure. In most cases it's reversible -- once you go off the meds the brain recovers. But long-term side effects are still an unknown. I don't think there are studies linking epilepsy with Alzheimers right now. At this point the only clear connection seems to be with depression.

I'll be doing a neuropsych evaluation soon to get a baseline for my cognitive functioning. Then every few years I'll do another to see how much worse I'm getting.

 

[Cint]

Some say, yes it can....

Here's an interesting article:

Data on Epilepsy Point to Dangers of Repeated Seizures

By LINDA CARROLL
Published: Tuesday, February 18, 2003

"For years, doctors have reassured epilepsy patients that seizures are relatively benign. While a fall during a seizure may cause injury, the surge of electricity in the brain does no actual damage, patients were told.

But mounting evidence now suggests that repeated seizures can indeed harm the brain ? or, in rare cases, even lead to death.

In the past decade, research in epilepsy has exploded. In part, the boom has been driven by advances in biology and technology, like the mapping of the genome and the continuing miniaturization of electronics.

But largely, it has been driven by a new recognition that seizures themselves are harmful. Mounting data point to damage to the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for laying down new memories, as the cumulative effect of a lifetime of uncontrolled seizures.

Furthermore, recent studies suggest that seizures beget seizures: each electrical surge in the brain causes changes that make future seizures more likely.

Doctors are also realizing that patients with seizures that are not suppressed by drugs or surgery are at higher risk of dying prematurely. A syndrome called sudden unexpected death in epilepsy patients, or Sudep, appears to be much more common than previously thought. No one is sure exactly what happens in the syndrome, but the suspicion is that an electrical short circuit either turns off respiration or the heart.

Basically, experts say, normal brain activity is fairly chaotic, with neurons sparking as needed. But in people with epilepsy, neurons occasionally begin to fire in sync. There is a power surge and the finer circuits of the brain are overwhelmed as the seizure progresses.

The seizures themselves can range from a brief loss of consciousness lasting one to 10 seconds to a complete loss of consciousness. It is the seizures that provoke a loss of consciousness that most worry researchers because these seizures appear to be most linked to sudden death and damage to the hippocampus.

Although there were hints in the past that uncontrolled seizures led to hippocampal damage, only in the last few years has strong evidence been accumulated."

You can read the FULL article on:

www.nytimes.com/2003/02/18/science/18EPIL.html?pagewanted=all

 

[Belinda5000]

I ask my neuro once if seizures damaged the brain.

He said he didn't know.

I ask a paramedic once why they always put oxygen on me after a seizure and I was told everyone stops breathing for awhile during a seizure or something like that.But we do stop breathing for sometime during a seizure.
With my repeated seizures because of falls I should be as dumb as they come.
But I've gotten smarter over the years when my seizures have gotten worse.


Belinda:twocents::agree:

 

[Loudmouth]

I dunno. 6 Years ago before my seizures started I was halfway through a degree and a member of Mensa. Now I can't remember what I've left the room for half the time. I can't solve puzzles as well as i used to, and I PERSONALLY believe that I have lost at least a percentage of the faculties I had before these dratted seizures began plagueing my life.

 

[darcness]

Loudmouth,

Do you think this could be caused by having uncontrolled seizures that don't give you a chance to recover?

I see a distinct difference in my wife between the times she's controlled (now) as opposed to when she wasn't. Even when she had seizures, they were the tonic-clonic kind that are pretty obvious, and even then it was only 3 in 1.5 years time. That still was enough to affect her memory and other small things for weeks after.

Also, you have to consider that many people don't even get diagnosed until they have a classic seizure present itself. By that time they may have been suffering from uncontrolled seizures for a long period of time.

I'm really inclinded to believe that either A) the meds or B) uncontrolled seizures are contributing to many of these issues.

I know my wife isn't to where she wants to be right now, as the Depakote is giving her some pretty bad delayed SE's, but she's certainly better off then she was before starting them. It was fun to tease her a bit about her memory issues while she was having them. If you knew me, and all the times she teases me about MY memory, you'd understand why.

 

[Meetz1064]

Yes, there

is damage. Not only do I know this based on the article that Cindy listed, (good article, btw, Cindy!!) but by simple common sense, and personal experience.

Let me explain.

I know that I've said in quite a few other posts that my t/c's (tonic clonics) are EXTREMELY violent--and they truly are. I do stop breathing, turning all sorts of different colors--purple, blue, white, gray. I break bones, too, and sometimes furniture.

But, I have noticed, and so has my family, and good friends, that my memory is shot. I can't remember what I'm going to get from one room to another unless I carry a piece of paper with me. Forget grocery shopping without a list. I don't remember most of my children's childhoods, or mine for that matter. I have to look at pictures to trigger anything. When I have talked to both neuros that I have used about it, they BOTH explained it this way:

When the brain seizes, and seizes, the neurons involved DO become damaged. Sometimes they maybe able to recover. Sometimes there is no hope for those neurons to recover (because of the severity of the seizures and the repetitiveness), so in order for some E patients to access memory--and maybe not all of their memories--the E patients' brain has to find ways to retrain itself to work around those damaged neurons.

What did they both suggest to do? Puzzles of any kind that I could get my hands on & play memory games with my kids. :bigmouth::roflmao: Now, neurofeedback is available also to help retrain the brain. RobinN can tell you a lot more about that--she does it for her daughter, Rebecca, at home.

 

[joan]

I think TC can cause damage. I don't think they always do, but I do think the potential there. My 20 yo son has only grands mals. Usually long ones. Never status, thank God* He's a sharp kid but he is NOT as sharp as he was at 12 -14 before puberty kicked E in. We've had him tested.. Neuropsychological Tested.. to get a baseline where we are, see if we can help in anyway. Its "normal" for your intelligence to match your memory score. Or very close. His intelligence is 125, his cognitive memory 85. Thats a huge discrepancy. We don't know if its a result of the E kicking in at puberty, meds, or damage. My 16 yo daughter only had myoclonics. I would think the potential for damage from them, minimal. (I could be wrong) We had her tested. Same thing High intelligence 135, low cognitive memory 85. We are addressing it with therapy. But Id be curious to others cognitive memory issues and if anyone has any more information on it* For me, at this point, it just seems part of the nature of the beast*

Be well,
joan*