Generalised Epilepsy

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Generalised epilepsy is a form of epilepsy characterised by generalised seizures. Generalised seizures, as opposed to partial seizures, are a variety of seizures that implacts consciousness and distort the electrical activity of a larger portion of the brain. There are different types of Generalised seizures. They can be either absence seizures, myoclonic seizures, clonic seizures, tonic seizures, tonic-clonic seizures or atonic seizures.

Absence seizures are not dramatic - in fact, they may not even be noticed at first. Typically, the child may be seen to stare vacantly for a few seconds, often showing the eyelids briefly, and mainly to be out of contact with surroundings. The child does not fall to the ground, and recovery is prompt, although the attacks may recur repeatedly, up to many times in the same day.

Types of Generalized Epilepsy

Tonic-clonic seizures were previously called "grand mal" attacks (from French, meaning "big sickness"). The episodes are dramatic. There may be a brief warning consisting of a feeling of sinking or rising in the pit of the stomach, or the person may cry out or groan before losing consciousness completely.

The limbs become stiff and rigid, and breathing stops, causing the lips to go blue. The eyes are rolled upward, and the jaws are clenched - if the tongue or lips are in the way, they will be bitten. This "tonic phase" is followed, within 30 to 60 seconds by the "clonic phase", in which the body is a shaken by a series of violent, rhythmic jerkings of the limbs. These usually cease after a couple of minutes. The person then recovers consciousness, but may be confused for several minutes, and wishes to sleep for an hour or two afterward. Headache and soreness of the muscles which have contracted so violently are commonly experienced for a day or more after the attack.

Other varieties of generalised epilepsy are uncommon. They include:

1. Myoclonic seizures where there may be voilent, symmetrical, shock-like contractions of the limbs, which may or may not be followed by loss of consciousness.
2. Atonic seizures, in which there is momentary loss of tone in the muscles of the limbs, leading to sudden falling to the ground or dropping of the head. The pattern is most often seen in children who have suffered injury to the brain, through lack of oxygen at birth, meningitis in infancy, etc.
3. Tonic seizures, where stiffening of the abody (arching the back) is the predominant feature. This type of attack may or may not be followed by loss of consciousness. It too is most commonly seen in children who have suffered some form of major insult to the brain.