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Seizure

Seizures are sudden bursts of abnormal electrical activity in the brain that may affect a person's muscle control, movement, speech, vision, or awareness (consciousness). The effects of seizures depend on a person's individual response, as well as the seizure type, frequency, and severity.

Some seizures make a person fall to the ground in convulsions, in which the muscles stiffen or jerk out of control. Others may stare as if in a trance, have only a few muscle twitches, or sense a strange smell or visual disturbance not experienced by anyone else.

Sometimes a seizure is a symptom of another medical problem, such as a high fever (especially in children), a stroke, infection, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), very low blood pressure, or a brain tumor.

 
 

PeaceHealth endeavors to provide comprehensive health care information, however some topics in this database describe services and procedures not offered by our providers or within our facilities because they do not comply with, nor are they condoned by, the ethics policies of our organization.