Causes for Petit Mal Seizures

Previously published in Examiner

Part 2 of the petit mal seizures in children

Montrealers are fortunate to have one of the greatest centers in the world founded by Dr. Wilder Penfield and his epilepsy research. The Montreal Neurological Institute is a world renown research center and hospital specializing in the diseases of the brain. Montrealers are fortunate to be able to have such state of the art care for strokes.

Montreal parents is your child just inattentive or could It be an absence or petit mal seizure? - continued

Causes for absence seizures

Sometimes there is no underlying cause, other times it is genetic or caused by hyperventilating.

Basically a seizure is caused by some kind of abnormal brain cells (neuronal) activity. Our brain cells communicate with each other by chemical and electrical charges. In an absence seizure, these cells repeat the signals in an altered three-second loop.

There could be an imbalance in the chemical neurotransmitters of the brain as well. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that require the presence of synapses to transfer the messages from one neuron to the other. Young children have many more synapses than adults and teenagers do and this could also be a reason for the altered level of neurotransmitters.

The good news is that children do outgrow this condition in time.

Complications and monitoring Your child's petit mal seizures or absence seizures

While most children outgrow absence seizures, otherwise known as petit mal seizures, parents must be vigilante and note how long the seizures last and if there are any complications accompanying the seizures. Absence seizures involve a few seconds of staring; while the child is seemingly out of focus or losing concentration They are normally so mild that they are mistaken for a lack of concentration. Sometimes however, they can be a little more serious.

Complications of an absence seizure/petit mal seizure

Because the children loose focus during these seizures, there can be some learning difficulty resulting from the petit mal seizure.

Or, a more serious condition called a absence status epilepticus can occur. This condition is characterized by the fact that it lasts for more than 5 minutes.

Source:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/petit-mal-seizure/DS00216/DSECTION=causes