Can seizures damage your heart?

Seizures frequently affect the heart rate and rhythm. In most cases, seizure-related cardiac changes are transient and do not appear to cause clinically significant abnormalities for the patient.

How do seizures affect the heart?

The electrical activity in the brain during a seizure can also change our pulse and usually causes an increase in heart rate. However, during some seizures, the heart can slow or even stop temporarily, which is referred to as ictal asystole.

What damage can a seizure cause?

To summarize, prolonged seizures can result in brain damage, while recurring seizures can also have adverse effects on brain functioning. In turn, traumatic brain injuries can also lead to various types of seizures, which may cause further damage.

Can a seizure cause permanent damage?

However, experiencing a prolonged seizure can cause injury. These types of seizures are called status epilepticus. Permanent neurological damage can happen after about 30 minutes of status epilepticus due to prolonged abnormal electrical activity in the affected area of the brain.

Can a seizure trigger a heart attack?

These results call into question the role of seizure as a dominant trigger of sudden cardiac arrest in epilepsy, while supporting observations that bradycardia and asystole are more common mechanisms of cardiac arrest for such patients.

A patient's experience with epilepsy

Can epilepsy cause heart failure?

People with epilepsy are at increased risk for sudden death. The most prevalent cause of sudden death in the general population is sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) due to ventricular fibrillation (VF).

Can seizures cause heart arrhythmias?

Seizure-related cardiac arrhythmias are frequently reported and have been implicated as potential pathomechanisms of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).

What are the long term effects of seizures?

Usually, a seizure does not cause any lasting damage to the brain. However, having many seizures, or having seizures that are particularly severe, may cause a person to become more forgetful or find it difficult to concentrate. People with epilepsy have an increased risk of developing depression.

How many seizures is too many?

A person is diagnosed with epilepsy when they have had two or more seizures. A seizure is a short change in normal brain activity. Seizures are the main sign of epilepsy.

How serious are seizures?

Generally speaking, a generalized tonic-clonic seizure lasting 5 minutes or longer is a medical emergency. If seizures can't be stopped or repeated seizures occur one right after another, permanent injury or death can occur.

How long can a seizure last before brain damage?

A seizure that lasts longer than 5 minutes, or having more than 1 seizure within a 5 minutes period, without returning to a normal level of consciousness between episodes is called status epilepticus. This is a medical emergency that may lead to permanent brain damage or death.

How long does it take to recover after a seizure?

Some people feel better after an hour or 2, but for some people it can take several days to feel 'back to normal'. Some people find they have temporary weakness or can't move part of their body after they've had a seizure.

Do seizures show up on MRI?

Does epilepsy show up on MRI scans? No, not necessarily. An MRI scan can help your doctor understand some of the possible underlying structural causes of your seizures. However, for many people there is no structural cause behind their epilepsy and so the brain scan comes back 'normal'.

How common is death from seizures?

Each year, more than 1 in 1,000 people with epilepsy die from SUDEP. This is the leading cause of death in people with uncontrolled seizures.

What happens to an ECG during a seizure?

In 23% of seizures (49% of patients) the rate increase preceded both the electrographic and the clinical onset. ECG abnormalities were found in 26% of seizures (44% of patients). One patient had an asystole for 30 seconds. Long seizure duration increased the occurrence of ECG abnormalities.

Can epilepsy medication cause heart problems?

An important clinical repercussion in the treatment of epilepsy has been discovered. Medical researchers have determined that two of the most commonly prescribed anti-seizure medications may lead to significantly increased levels of cholesterol, C-reactive protein and other markers of cardiovascular disease risk.

Is epilepsy a disability?

Epilepsy is considered a disability and it has a listing in the Social Security Administration (SSA) Blue Book. For epilepsy to qualify for disability benefits, it must meet the criteria of the Blue Book listing. There are different listings for epilepsy in the Blue Book.

Why are my seizures getting worse?

Generally, the more seizures someone has, the worse it is for their brain. If seizures are interfering with your life, find a neurologist near you. Genetics, brain injuries and tumors, infections, strokes, and other conditions that affect the brain can cause epilepsy to develop.

Can you survive a seizure alone?

By taking care of your overall well-being and making lifestyle changes to lower the risk of seizure, you can live safely and independently with epilepsy.

Do seizures shorten life span?

Reduction in life expectancy can be up to 2 years for people with a diagnosis of idiopathic/cryptogenic epilepsy, and the reduction can be up to 10 years in people with symptomatic epilepsy. Reductions in life expectancy are highest at the time of diagnosis and diminish with time.

Do seizures get worse with age?

The incidence of any type of seizure increases substantially over the age of 60, commonly due to other neurological conditions such as dementia or stroke.

Does epilepsy shorten your life?

Epilepsy can shorten life, but most of the time it does not. Be aware of risks and take sensible precautions, but do not let the risks put you into a state of constant worry. Consult with your doctor for specific information about your risk factors for injury due to seizures.

Can seizures cause atrial fibrillation?

Background Epileptic seizures are often associated with changes in cardiac autonomic function. Yet atrial fibrillation (AFib) or atrial flutter (AFlu) following epileptic seizures has only rarely been reported in the past.

Can seizures cause ECG changes?

In 23% of seizures (49% of patients) the rate increase preceded both the electrographic and the clinical onset. ECG abnormalities were found in 26% of seizures (44% of patients). One patient had an asystole for 30 seconds. Long seizure duration increased the occurrence of ECG abnormalities.

What happens to your body when having a seizure?

A seizure is a sudden, uncontrolled electrical disturbance in the brain. It can cause changes in your behavior, movements or feelings, and in levels of consciousness. Having two or more seizures at least 24 hours apart that aren't brought on by an identifiable cause is generally considered to be epilepsy.