Question
How can you identify the early symptoms of a child potentially having epilepsy?
Answer
The early symptoms of epilepsy may include generalized seizures, such as tonic-clonic seizures (grand mal seizures), as well as absent seizures. During a tonic-clonic seizure, the child may suddenly lose consciousness, accompanied by temporary breathing cessation, cyanosis, stiffness of the limbs followed by clonic spasms, and may also experience vomiting foam, incontinence of urine or feces. These episodes usually last between 1 to 5 minutes and are followed by a state of unconsciousness. After waking up, the child has no memory of the episode. Absent seizures are characterized by brief loss of consciousness, interruption in speech, and cessation of activity, but the child does not fall or twitch. The duration of these episodes is generally not more than 30 seconds, and after the seizure, the child resumes normal activities with no memory of the event. These symptoms may appear before a child has a convulsion, so timely identification and medical attention are crucial.