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What Are the Different Types of Seizures?

Thursday, April 30, 2009
Related Tags: seizures | mal | partial | consciousness | jerking
 

Instructions

Grand Mal

  • Step 1:
    Also called tonic-clonic, grand mal seizures are the typical "Hollywood" variety of epileptic episode. They last for one to three minutes and involve loss of consciousness, stiffening of the limbs, and convulsions.

Petit Mal

  • Step 1:
    Absence, or petit mal, seizures last only a few seconds, and usually involve blank staring, fluttering eyelids, or a strange chewing motion. The person may appear to be daydreaming.

Simple Partial

  • Step 1:
    These seizures do not involve loss of consciousness at all. Simple partial seizures last between one and two minutes, and the person is likely to experience sudden jerking, unexplained pain, or odd sensory perception.

Complex Partial

  • Step 1:
    Because they sometimes resemble intoxication or mental illness, complex partial seizures are often the subject of stigma. They may involve odd behaviors such as wandering, babbling, fumbling, or even masturbation.

Myoclonic Seizures

  • Step 1:
    These are very quick, involuntary movements of body parts, such as sudden jerking in the head or neck. They do not involve loss of consciousness.

Resources


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