Question
Has your baby recently shown symptoms like shaking, drooling, or occasional staring spells? Is it possible they could have epilepsy?
Answer
The symptoms of epilepsy can be categorized based on the type of seizure. (1) Grand mal seizures, also known as generalized seizures, occur in about half of cases with a preceding aura, such as dizziness, confusion, abdominal discomfort, and sensory or olfactory disturbances. During the seizure, some patients may emit a sharp cry and then lose consciousness, fall to the ground, and experience rigidity in their muscles, cessation of breathing, and deviation of the head and eyes to one side. After a few seconds, there may be a series of convulsive spasms that gradually intensify and can last for tens of seconds. During the convulsive phase, breathing resumes and the patient may vomit froth (like blood foam if the tongue is bitten). Some patients may also experience incontinence and become limp or enter a state of coma (postictal coma) after the seizure, with consciousness gradually returning. (2) Petit mal seizures can cause brief (5~10 seconds) loss of consciousness or awareness without any generalized convulsions. These can occur multiple times a day and sometimes involve rhythmic blinking, lowering of the head, staring eyes, and twitching of the upper limbs. (3) Psychomotor seizures (also known as complex partial seizures) can manifest as episodes…