Seizure (cont.)
Are There Special Risks Associated With Epilepsy?
Although most people with epilepsy lead full, active lives, they are at
special risk for two life-threatening conditions: status epilepticus and sudden
unexplained death.
Status Epilepticus
Status epilepticus is a potentially life-threatening condition in which a
person either has an abnormally prolonged seizure or does not fully regain
consciousness between seizures. Although there is no strict definition for the
time at which a seizure turns into status epilepticus, most people agree that
any seizure lasting longer than 5 minutes should, for practical purposes, be
treated as though it was status epilepticus.
Status epilepticus affects about 195,000 people each year in the United
States and results in about 42,000 deaths. While people with epilepsy are at an
increased risk for status epilepticus, about 60 percent of people who develop
this condition have no previous seizure history. These cases often result from
tumors, trauma, or other problems that affect the brain and may themselves be
life-threatening.
While most seizures do not require emergency medical
treatment, someone with a prolonged seizure lasting more than 5 minutes may be
in status epilepticus and should be taken to an emergency room immediately. It
is important to treat a person with status epilepticus as soon as possible. One
study showed that 80 percent of people in status epilepticus who received
medication within 30 minutes of seizure onset eventually stopped having seizures, whereas only 40
percent recovered if 2 hours had passed before they received medication. Doctors
in a hospital setting can treat status epilepticus with several different drugs
and can undertake emergency life-saving measures, such as administering oxygen,
if necessary.
People in status epilepticus do not always have severe convulsive seizures.
Instead, they may have repeated or prolonged nonconvulsive seizures. This type
of status epilepticus may appear as a sustained episode of confusion or
agitation in someone who does not ordinarily have that kind of mental
impairment. While this type of episode may not seem as severe as convulsive
status epilepticus, it should still be treated as an emergency.
Sudden Unexplained Death
For reasons that are poorly understood, people with epilepsy have an
increased risk of dying suddenly for no discernible reason. This condition,
called sudden unexplained death, can occur in people without epilepsy, but
epilepsy increases the risk about two-fold. Researchers are still unsure why
sudden unexplained death occurs. One study suggested that use of more than two
anticonvulsant drugs may be a risk factor. However, it is not clear whether the
use of multiple drugs causes the sudden death, or whether people who use
multiple anticonvulsants have a greater risk of death because they have more
severe types of epilepsy.
Next: What Research Is Being Done on Epilepsy? »
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