Is epilepsy in children dangerous?

While childhood epilepsy can be frightening, it only lasts less than 2 minutes and goes away on its own. Therefore, epilepsy in children is less life-threatening.

A seizure occurs when nerve cells in the brain send out electrical signals suddenly, out of control, and out of control. Electric currents in the brain must work continuously. If something goes wrong with this activity, your child is likely to experience a seizure.

Diagnosis of epilepsy in children

Diagnosing epilepsy in children from the very first time can be difficult. Seizures end so quickly that a doctor sometimes can't see the whole process. Therefore, what they need to do is rule out other conditions, such as non-infectious seizures. Seizures can resemble seizures, but are often caused by other factors like low blood sugar or low blood pressure, changes in heart rate, or emotional stress.

On the other hand, your descriptive act of epilepsy in children is also of utmost importance to help a doctor make a diagnosis. Parents should also consider gathering more information from family members as they will sometimes witness strange behavior from a baby when you are not paying attention.

In addition, you can use the phone to record the times your baby has seizures. Although this may cause many parents to protest because when their child has a seizure, parents are very worried and find a way to help alleviate the child's condition, so it is impossible to film, but the clip shows This has the ability to help doctors a lot in diagnosing a disease more accurately.

Some types of epilepsy, such as epilepsy of absence of consciousness, are difficult to identify because they can be confused with daydreams. Adults can even ignore this condition for many years. And a severe seizure consisting of actions like seizures and spasticity is easy to spot because the baby will show obvious signs.

Your doctor says you shouldn't be alarmed if your baby is staring at the television or out the window. Most of the children who seem dreamy are actually immersed in their own fantasy worlds. Instead, watch for signs that appear at inappropriate times, such as when your child is saying or doing something and suddenly stops.

Other types of epilepsy, such as complex local epilepsy or simple local epilepsy, can be mistaken for different conditions, including:

Migraine headache

Psychosis

Drug or alcohol poisoning.

Testing is an important part of diagnosing epilepsy in children. Your baby's doctor will likely give your baby a physical test and blood test with options like an EEG to check the electrical activity in the brain.

What to do when your child has a seizure?

When your baby has epilepsy, first make sure your baby is in a safe space with few objects. Next, you should:

Have your baby lie on the floor

Do not control your baby's movements

Loosen clothes in the neck or head area

Do not try to open the child's mouth or place an object between their teeth.

Many parents think that letting your baby suck on a towel or pry his mouth out will help prevent tongue biting, but in fact this can make the baby choke. The amount of blood flowing from the tongue biting is not much and does not endanger his life.

After the seizure has passed, children are often very confused and tired. Sometimes your baby falls into a deep sleep and sleeps for a few hours, let your baby get enough rest. Also, check your child's condition often until everything is back to normal.

When should I take my child to the doctor?

You must take your baby to the emergency room right away if he or she:

Having trouble breathing

A seizure lasts more than 5 minutes

The baby expressed pain during convulsions

Do not respond to a parent's calls for about 30 minutes after experiencing a seizure.

Most epileptic seizures in children last less than 2 minutes. If a seizure is going on after 5 minutes, it may not stop on its own. Young children usually do not have any serious breathing problems from a seizure even though their mouth looks pale.

Pale mouth is quite common and is not a serious sign. Doctors have explained that during a seizure, the brain has to work hard and need more oxygen. The body takes a little oxygen from the area around the mouth to send it to the brain, thereby causing pallor.

Can epilepsy be prevented in children?

As aFamilyToday Health mentioned above, most seizures last less than 2 minutes. If your baby has to endure this for 5 minutes or more, you need to help your baby to stop the seizure. The only way to do this is to give your child medication. Plus, measures like hugging the baby or talking aren't really helping.

During a seizure, your child cannot take the medication by mouth but needs to be given the medicine either intravenously or through the rectum and nose, where the medication is absorbed through the mucous membranes. Common medications used to prevent seizures are diazepam ( Valium® ), lorazepam (Ativan®) and midazolam (Versed®). So, if your child has frequent seizures, talk carefully with your doctor about what medication to take in this case.

Can epilepsy in children cause death?

Most children with epilepsy will live a full and long life. However, although very rare, there are still cases of young children dying when:

Very long seizures (60 minutes or longer)

Trauma or drowning during a seizure

Sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP).

Until now, sudden death from epilepsy is not well understood, but several factors may increase your baby's risk of developing this phenomenon, for example:

Developmental disorders

Stop the drug suddenly

Convulsions uncontrolled

Parents do not give the baby medication often

Use different types of epilepsy medications.

The best way to keep your baby safe from trauma and sudden death from epilepsy is to take measures to prevent epilepsy, make sure your baby is on regular medication, and follow your doctor's instructions.