Seizures are caused by a sudden surge of electrical activity in the brain. A seizure usually affects how a person looks or acts for a short time. Someone having a seizure might collapse, shake uncontrollably, or even just stare into space. All of these are brief disturbances in brain function, often with a loss of or change in consciousness.
Seizures can be frightening, but most last only a few minutes, stop on their own, and are not life-threatening. A person who has had two or more seizures may be diagnosed with epilepsy, also known as seizure disorder.
Seizure Basics
Usually, electrical activity in the brain involves neurons in different areas sending signals at different times. During a seizure, many neurons fire all at once. This abnormal electrical activity can cause different symptoms depending on the part of the brain involved, including unusual sensations, uncontrollable muscle spasms, and loss of consciousness.
Some seizures may be due to another medical problem, such as a fever, an infection, a head injury, accidental poisoning, or drug overdose. They also can be caused by a brain tumor or other health problem affecting the brain. And anything that results in a sudden lack of oxygen or reduced blood flow to the brain can cause a seizure. In some cases, a seizure's cause is never found.
Febrile seizures can happen in children younger than 6 years old. While they can be scary to watch, these seizures are usually brief and rarely cause any serious or long-term problems, unless the fever is related to a serious infection, such as meningitis.
Syncope (SIN-ko-pee), or fainting, is not uncommon in older kids and teens. When it happens, kids might have a brief seizure or seizure-like spell. They might stiffen or even twitch or convulse a few times. Fortunately, fainting rarely is a sign of epilepsy. Most kids recover very quickly (seconds to minutes) and don't need specialized treatment.