A seizure is a sudden surge of abnormal electrical activity in the brain that usually affects how a person appears or acts for a short time.
There are three major types of seizures:
- Generalized onset seizures
- Affect both sides of the brain at the same time
- Includes seizure types like tonic-clonic, absence, or atonic
- Focal onset seizures
- Focal seizures can start in one area or in one side of the brain
- Focal onset aware seizures occur when a person is awake and aware during a seizure (formerly called simple partial seizure)
- Focal onset impaired awareness seizures occur when a person is confused or awareness is affected during a focal seizure (formerly called a complex partial seizure)
- Unknown onset seizures
- Occur when the beginning of a seizure is not known, such as if it’s not witnessed by anyone
- An unknown onset seizure may later be diagnosed as a focal or generalized seizure
What Are Symptoms of Seizures?
Depending on the type of seizure, symptoms may include:
- Motor symptoms
- Sustained rhythmic jerking movements (clonic)
- Muscle weakness or limpness (atonic)
- Tense or rigid muscles (tonic)
- Brief muscle twitching (myoclonus)
- Epileptic spasms (body flexes and extends repeatedly)
- Repeated automatic movements (automatisms), such as clapping or rubbing of hands, lip smacking, chewing, or running
- Non-motor symptoms (absence seizures)
- Staring spells
- Brief twitches that can affect a specific body part or just the eyelids
- Changes in sensation
- Mood changes
- Changes in thinking or cognition
- Changes in autonomic functions (such as gastrointestinal sensations, waves of heat or cold, goosebumps, heart racing, etc.)
- Lack of movement (behavior arrest)
What Causes Seizures?
Causes of seizures can vary by age.
Causes of seizures in newborns include:
- Malformations of the brain
- Lack of oxygen during birth
- Metabolic problems
- Low blood levels of sugar, calcium, magnesium, or other electrolyte problems
- Intracranial bleeding
- Maternal drug use
Causes of seizures in infants and young children include:
- Fever (febrile seizures)
- Infections
- Brain tumor (rarely)
Causes of seizures in children and adults include:
Causes of seizures in seniors include:
- Stroke
- Alzheimer's disease
- Trauma
How Are Seizures Diagnosed?
Tests used to diagnose the cause of seizures include:
- Electroencephalogram (EEG) checks for brain wave patterns consistent with seizure activity
- Blood tests to check for certain medical disorders
- Brain imaging to look for abnormal areas such as a tumor or infection
- X-ray of the brain
- Computerized tomography (CT) scan
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan
- Lumbar puncture (also called a spinal tap)
- Electrocardiogram (EKG) to check the heart
- Sleep testing
What Is the Treatment for Seizures?
Treatment for seizures usually involves:
- Medicines called anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs)
- Diet therapy, including the ketogenic diet
- Epilepsy surgery
- Removal of a small part of the brain that's causing the seizures
- Implantation of a small electrical device inside the body to help control seizures
From 
Brain & Nervous Resources
References
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https://www.epilepsy.com/
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