Pediatrics
Treating Childhood Seizures
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Childhood seizures can be caused by a variety of common illnesses that result in abnormal electrical activity in the brain. Seizures are sometimes called convulsions, fits or attacks.
Generalized seizure
Recurrent seizures are known as epilepsy. In the majority of children, no cause for the seizure is identified. Occasionally, epilepsy may have a genetic basis and run in families. Sometimes, brain injury that took place around the time of birth may result in epilepsy.
In extremely rare cases, a brain tumor may cause seizures. There are many different types of childhood seizures. Doctors usually diagnose a child as having a seizure based on the description of the attack. Sometimes, further tests are required, such as electrical recording of the brain.
A brain scan may also be required, depending on the type of seizure and how often it occurs.
The most common cause of childhood seizures is fever. There are called febrile seizures. Febrile seizures affect about 3 percent of children between ages three months and five years. Children who have one or more generalized seizures during the course of an illness that causes a fever are said to have febrile seizures.
A generalized seizure is the most common type of childhood epilepsy that is characterized by stiffening of the body and involuntary movements. Continued febrile convulsions occur in about one-third of children after the first episode, but only 5 percent go on to develop non-febrile convulsions. Therefore, if a child suffers from febrile convulsions, he/she is not likely to develop epilepsy later in life.
Children who have seizures usually do not require much change in their everyday activities. If seizures are frequent or difficult to control, children should not ride a bicycle in traffic, swim unaccompanied, or take baths alone. For the vast majority of children with epilepsy, the condition can often be controlled with one anti-epileptic medication, which is usually taken two times to three times a day.
Some common side effects of these kinds of medications may include drowsiness and rashes. More than 60 percent of children grow out of their epilepsy, and medication can be stopped if the child has not had a seizure for at least two years. Many herbal remedies have recently been used to treat seizures in children, and other techniques such as relaxation and reflexology are also known to be helpful.
Experts say seizures rarely cause lasting damage to the brain, but a child can be physically harmed while they are having an attack.
"The most important thing we worry about is children actually injuring themselves physically when they're having a seizure," Dr. Colin Roberts, from Doernbecher Children's Hospital at Oregon Health & Sciences University, said.
Experts offer parents these tips:
- Move the child away from furniture and toys
- Turn the child to the side to prevent choking
- Never put anything in the child's mouth. (It is a myth that people can swallow their tongues)
- Time the seizure, if possible. If it lasts longer than two minutes, call 911. In rare cases the child may need to take medication to stop the seizure.
Reprinted with permission. Copyright ©2005TWEAN News Channel of Austin, L.P. d.b.a. News 8 Austin