Short notes on the types of epilepsy

Short notes on the types of epilepsy

Epilepsy is generally categorised into two types- general and localised. General epilepsy is again of two types-Grandmal and Petitmal. Localised epilepsy is again of two types-Jacksonian and Psychomotor.

Grandmal Epilepsy (Grandmal seizure):

Also called major epilepsy, this involves the total body. The onset of epilepsy includes four stages namely- a. Aura, b. Epileptic cry, c. loss of consciousness and d. convulsions.

a. Aura:

This consists of premonitory symptoms before the actual season. These symptoms occur usually a few hours or days before attack. Symp­toms include visual hallucinations in the form of flashes of light in front of eyes, numbness of the body, strange sounds in the ear, vertigo etc.

b. Epileptic cry:

This may not be seen in all cases. It is a scream caused due to partly closed vocal cards.

c. Loss of consciousness:

The patient loses consciousness and is not aware of the surroundings or of himself.

d. Convulsions:

This includes two phases tonic phase and clonic phase. In tonic phase, there is tonic spasm of the muscles. The head and eyes rotate to one side; the mouth also is drawn to one side. There is distur­bance in respiration. Tonic phase lasts for a few seconds only. In clonic phase, the patient shows sharp jerks of the body, foam comes out of the mouth. The tongue may be caught between the teeth. The patient may also urinate.

The clonic phase gradually comes to an end. This stage is called the post convulsive stage. The muscular contractions gradually become slow. The patient regains consciousness; the period of unconsciousness however might vary. At the end of this, patient has a severe headache.

Petitmal Epilepsy (Petitmal seizure):

This is a minor type of epilepsy characterised by momentary loss of consciousness. The individual may look blank or may stop for a moment while walking. At that moment he has lost contact with the surroundings. After the attack, the individual is back to normal and is totally unaware of having had an attack. There are no spasms of muscles and no loss of bladder control. Petitmal seizure is common in young children. EEG (Electro Encephalograph) is very help­ful in the diagnosis of the disease.

Jacksonian Epilepsy (Jacksonian seizure):

These are small seizures which occur without loss of consciousness. They usually begin in one area such as thumb or index finger or angle of mouth or great toe and gradually involve adjacent muscles and finally involve the whole body.

Psychomotor Epilepsy (Psychomotor seizure):

This has a characteristic aura(the first phase before the onset of actual seizure) followed by a dream like state in which the individual repeats the same actions several times such as lip smacking, dressing and undressing, rage, uncontrolled laughter and apprehension. At this stage the patient may commit some crimes be­ing totally unaware of what he is doing. In this stage he is totally taken over by ammesia.