Can silent seizures cause brain damage?

While absence seizures occur in the brain, they don't cause brain damage. Absence seizures won't have any effect on intelligence in most children. Some children may experience learning difficulties because of their lapses in consciousness. Others may think they're daydreaming or not paying attention.

What happens if absence seizures go untreated?

Usually absence seizures last no longer than 15 seconds, but that loss of consciousness can make paying attention in school and learning more difficult especially when they occur multiple times a day. Children who have absence seizures may miss things throughout the day and even risk getting hurt.

Can seizures cause permanent brain damage?

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. Status epilepticus is a medical emergency.

What part of the brain do absence seizures affect?

Temporal lobe, or psychomotor, seizures are caused by abnormal electrical activity in an area of the brain known as the temporal lobe, which sits just above your ear. This abnormal activity results in temporary changes in movement, sensation, or autonomic function (such as heart rate and salivation).

How long can you have a seizure 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.

Causes of Seizures Following Brain Injury

Do seizures show up on MRI?

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy uses an MRI machine to analyze the molecular components of tissue in a particular area of the brain. This helps doctors differentiate a seizure from another condition, such as a metabolic disorder, tumor, or stroke.

What are the symptoms of brain damage?

Do absence seizures get worse over time?

Children with absence seizures often outgrow the condition. Absence seizures can continue, however. Some people progress to longer or more intense seizures.

Can you drive if you have absence seizures?

Licensing may depend on how severe seizures are and how well they are controlled. Consider public transportation where it is available. If you continue to have absence seizures, it may not be safe for you to drive.

Do absence seizures show up on EEG?

Absence seizures are characterized by behavioral arrest and EEG showing 3-Hertz spike-and-wave discharges. Episodes usually occur multiple times per day. Absence seizures are seen in several generalized epilepsies including childhood absence epilepsy, juvenile absence epilepsy, and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.

What test shows brain damage?

A CT scan uses a series of X-rays to create a detailed view of the brain. A CT scan can quickly visualize fractures and uncover evidence of bleeding in the brain (hemorrhage), blood clots (hematomas), bruised brain tissue (contusions), and brain tissue swelling. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Do small seizures cause brain damage?

Isolated, brief seizures are likely to cause negative changes in brain function and possibly loss of specific brain cells. This is not true for all forms of epilepsy, however, and is likely to be highly dependent upon the type of seizure and the specific cause of the epilepsy.

What are the long term effects of seizures?

Long lasting seizures, or status epilepticus, may also cause brain damage or death. People with epilepsy are eight times more likely than people without it to experience certain other chronic conditions, including dementia, migraine, heart disease, and depression.

What triggers absence seizures?

Causes. Seizures result from overactivity in the brain. Absence seizures occur most often in people under age 20, usually in children ages 4 to 12. In some cases, the seizures are triggered by flashing lights or when the person breathes faster and more deeply than usual (hyperventilates).

Are absence seizures a disability?

Dyscognitive Seizures and Absence Seizures

To meet the listing for this type of epilepsy, your child must have dyscognitive or absence seizures that occur at least once a weekfor three consecutive months, despite taking prescribed medication for three consecutive months.

Does absence seizures affect memory?

Furthermore, frequent recurrent seizures, even in the absence of neuronal injury, may lead to the decline of learning and memory.

What can be mistaken for absence seizures?

Staring. Staring and daydreaming are sometimes confused for an absence seizure. A child may appear to be staring off into space and at first doesn't respond to his name. Probably that child is simply concentrating or thinking about another place or time.

How often do absence seizures happen?

How long do absence seizures last? Most seizures last between five seconds and 30 seconds, but they can last for a few minutes, although this is less common. The longer the seizure lasts, the more likely it'll be noticed by others. Absence seizures may be frequent, 10 to more than 30 times a day.

Do absence seizures make you tired?

An indication of simple absence seizure is a vacant stare, which may be mistaken for a lapse in attention that lasts about 10 seconds, though it may last as long as 20 seconds, without any confusion, headache or drowsiness afterward. Signs and symptoms of absence seizures include: Sudden stop in motion without falling.

Do seizures show up on CT scans?

CT scans can reveal abnormalities in your brain that might cause a seizure, such as tumors, bleeding and cysts.

Can absence seizures cause death?

Untreated Absence Seizures Leads to Sudden Death.

Can absence seizures be caused by stress?

Some people experience symptoms similar to those of an epileptic seizure but without any unusual electrical activity in the brain. When this happens it is known as a non-epileptic seizure (NES). NES is most often caused by mental stress or a physical condition.

Does brain damage always show on MRI?

And the answer is if it's moderate or severe, most of the time it will show up on an MRI. If it's a mild brain injury, often it will not show up on an MRI.

Can a damaged brain repair itself?

And the answer is yes. The brain is incredibly resilient and possesses the ability to repair itself through the process of neuroplasticity. This phenomenon is the reason why many brain injury survivors can make astounding recoveries.

Can MRI show old brain injury?

MRI might show brain atrophy long after the injury, which results when injured or dead brain tissue is reabsorbed after TBI. Since injured brain tissue might not fully recover after TBI, doctors might detect TBI-related changes many years following an injury.