Absence Seizures in Children

Little John was a 7-year-old naughty boy who did well in school. One day he just blanked out for about 20 seconds or so. His teacher repeatedly called out his name, but all John did was blinking his eyes continuously. He came back to normalcy as if nothing happened and was not aware of blacking out. His teacher thought this was one of his many mischief. However, John began to have these spells regularly in the class as well as on the playground and his teacher thought there was something terribly wrong. His parents were contacted who took him to a doctor. Little John was diagnosed with absence seizures in children.

This was a typical case of a child being diagnosed with absence seizures in children. Many parents are worried when they hear this condition being diagnosed for their children. Most of the time absence seizures are controlled with proper medications.

Absence Seizures in Children

Absence seizures are a type of seizures that are also known as petit mal. This is a French term that stands for 'little illness'. There is no jerking or twitching of the body involved with absence seizures. The child seems to start into space with a slight twitch in the eye muscles. The period of absence seizures may last for a few seconds up to 10 seconds. Some children can have over a dozen seizures in a single day. The absence seizures are mild as compared to other types of seizures. However, they are just as dangerous and the child should be restricted from bathing, swimming, cycling unsupervised. There are two types of absence seizures. The simple absence seizures is a condition where the child just stares. In case of complex absence seizure there is a change in the muscle activity like, eye blinks, tasting movement in the mouth, fingers being rubbed together, and even contractions and relaxation of the muscles. These complex seizures can last more than 10 seconds.

Children in the age group of about 4 to 14 are mostly affected with absence seizures. These children have normal growth and intelligence pattern. Children who develop absence seizures before the age of 9, out-grow this condition by the time they are 10 to 12 years of age. The complex absence seizures can rarely occur more than several times a day or in a week. Whereas the simple absence seizures are seen many times in a day.

Symptoms

There are certain symptoms that parents as well as teachers should watch out for. There can be different causes of seizures as well as symptoms. These signs and symptoms include the following:

• Staring into space without any unusual movement
• Smacking of lips
• Fluttering eyelids
• Chewing
• Fidgeting with hands
• Walking around aimlessly

These symptoms last for only a few seconds. Once the child recovers from the seizure he is neither confused nor has a memory of undergoing these seizures. Some children may have over 100 episodes of absence seizures that leads to many problems in their school work. This is one of the reasons that leads to behavioral problems, learning problems and social awkwardness in children with absence seizures.

The episodes of absence seizures in children is generally very brief. A child who is walking or standing having an episode of absence seizure probably will not fall down. This brief periods makes it very difficult for parents or teachers to catch the symptoms. The child too has no memory of these seizures and will probably never complain having experienced one. This disorder is generally spotted when a child fails to cope up with school work and the teachers constantly complain of inability to pay attention in class or day dreaming.

Treatment

Most of the time there is no first aid required for absence seizures in children. If the child continues to perform activities like eating or moving or walking around without being aware of the surroundings, you need to seek immediate medical attention. This is a symptom of a dangerous seizure type called the absence status epilepticus. Also, if the seizures last for more than 5 minutes instead of the maximum episode period of 10 - 20 seconds seek advice from a epilepsy specialist.

There are no medications that can help cure epilepsy. However, there are medications that help in bringing down the number of seizures a child has or may even put a stop to these absence seizures. These medications fortunately have little or no side effects. You need to speak to the doctor regarding the dose and type of medication that will suit your child. Do not administer any medication or drug to your child without your doctor's advice.

Most of the children stop having absence seizures by the time they are about 12 years old. Some children may stop having absence seizures episodes and develop other types of seizures in rare cases. Most children do not require any medications for epilepsy for the rest of their life. There are cases of absence seizures in adults that are not unheard of. These adults are restricted from driving, operating heavy machinery and carrying out jobs that require mental alertness. If you have any doubts regarding absence seizures in children and its impact on their overall health, you can speak to an epilepsy doctor for information on this matter.

Disclaimer
The information in this article is intended as a supplement to, not as a substitute for, the expert and professional medical prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of a healthcare professional. The reader is advised to consult with a medical consultant before taking any home remedies, supplements or following any treatment advised. A medical consultant will be able to provide the reader with advice that is safe and effective for an individual's specific needs and diagnose a particular health problem based on their personal medical history.