Epilepsy Talk

Head injuries and seizures  | July 10, 2023

How many of you have had a car accident…an abrupt fall…a physical assault?  If you are one of those people and you have suffered a head injury, the probability of seizure activity increases dramatically…

Seizures may develop immediately after an injury to the brain or may develop in delayed fashion, showing up months or years after the initial trauma.

Generally speaking, the risk of post traumatic seizures is related to the severity of the injury — the greater the injury, the higher the risk of developing seizures. Even mild to moderate injuries can result in seizures.

It is thought that a head injury disrupts the pathways of the brain and that an epileptic seizure can be viewed as a sort of short-circuit of the brain’s electrical functioning. During the seizure the electrical fields in the brain are overloaded, resulting in seizures.

The most commonly seen seizures related to traumatic brain injury are “generalized” seizures, which are also called “Tonic-Clonic” or “Grand Mal” seizures.

People who have had head trauma are twelve times as likely as the general population to suffer seizures.

Approximately 57% of head injured individuals developed epilepsy within one-year of injury. 80% of the time, they occur within the first 24-months. Longer onset epilepsy beginning more than four years after the trauma occurs in 20% of patients who developed epilepsy.

However, there is a school of thought that the “window in time” between a head trauma and when epilepsy could eventually develop allows investigators to study if medications can prevent the development of epilepsy before it starts.

The exciting hope for the future is that therapy to prevent epilepsy in head injuries can be developed.

Consider this possible futuristic approach: We know that patients with severe head trauma are at high risk to develop epilepsy.

Perhaps this group of patients could be treated with a medication that prevents the process that leads to seizure activity. This would be a wonderful advance over just waiting for the first seizure!

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References:

https://www.verywellhealth.com/seizures-after-head-trauma-3954717

https://www.healthline.com/health/epilepsy/epilepsy-after-concussion

https://www.epsyhealth.com/seizure-epilepsy-blog/brain-trauma-and-seizures-what-you-need-to-know

http://www.braininjury.com/seizures-and-head-injury.shtml

http://www.msktc.org/tbi/factsheets/Seizures-After-Traumatic-Brain-Injury

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4516165/

https://www.epilepsy.com/causes/structural/traumatic-brain-injury-and-epilepsy

Posted in Epilepsy, Research
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

11 Comments »

  1. I experienced a traumatic brain injury in the 9th grade because of a bus crash. I always wondered why my epilepsy wasn’t diagnosed until right before I started college. Maybe because I was never treated for the concussion or tested with an MRI. Of course, the doctors were more concerned about my dislocated knees. But I sometimes think about the difference it would have made.

    Liked by 1 person

    Comment by Mary Ellen Gambon — July 10, 2023 @ 11:52 AM

    Reply

    • Something similar happened with me. (Without the pain of the dislocated knees.)

      I wasn’t diagnosed until 4 years after my skating accident, despite the concussion I suffered. (It was a doozy!)

      I walked into walls, fell down stairs, etc. and it was all attributed to the fact that I was “clumsy”.

      Liked by 1 person

      Comment by Phylis Feiner Johnson — July 10, 2023 @ 12:13 PM

      Reply

  2. Reblogged this on Disablities & Mental Health Issues.

    Like

    Comment by Kenneth — July 10, 2023 @ 12:03 PM

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  3. Oh, Phylis! I was constantly accused of being clumsy and absent minded by family members – except for my mom! I really wonder now!

    Liked by 1 person

    Comment by Mary Ellen Gambon — July 10, 2023 @ 12:50 PM

    Reply

  4. I experienced TBI at age 30 but didn’t start seizures till 50 yrs old. I also found out I had mercury toxicity from amalgam fillings which didn’t help my situation. Anyway I am 68 , I feel great after mercury detoxing but I do take seizure medication.

    Liked by 1 person

    Comment by Deborah — July 10, 2023 @ 9:03 PM

    Reply

  5. I was 52 years old when the worse ever seizure happened to me at a COSTCO. from that GRAND MAL seizure I ended up having a concussion and very slight bleeding on the front part of the skull from all the XRAY showed at the ER. It could had been worse if it were not for an ANGEL a COSTCO employee who saw me hit my head on that concrete floor, and all my mom heard was according to her words, she told me I was like a tree falling in the woods and hearing that loud echo when my head hit the floor. That COSTCO employee today would probably get fired when she came to my rescue & held my head on her thighs when she bent down with her knees on that hard concrete floor. All of that was over 10 & 1/2 years ago to think back how that concussion DID change my seizure pattern, as each year it seems like MORE seizures did happen as I got older, BUT thank God for EXCOPRI as I have now been over 20 months without any 100% full blown GRAND MAL seizures. Strangest thing was when I went to that ER by the EMT that evening, my neurologist then was the 1 ER doctor on call. He spent at least 30 minutes with me BEFORE the CAT SCAN results came back. Nobody could had planned for that. All because of ”3” 1/2 pieces of toxic cream puffs. Plus THEN I was only 10 DAYS AWAY from being seizure free for 2 years. All to say WATCH EVERYTHING & KNOW what you are eating & drinking. Have some fun & go to any search bar & type this>>>> What should I eat ? Another to look at is msg.news

    Liked by 1 person

    Comment by James D — July 10, 2023 @ 9:14 PM

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  6. Wow, James. I didn’t know about that Costco seizure and its aftermath. Someone was, literally, looking out for you.

    And all the Xcopri news is great. But cream puffs? Wow.

    Do you think it was the MSG?

    MSG: Dangerous or Deadly? https://epilepsytalk.com/2022/06/26/msg-dangerous-or-deadly/

    Liked by 1 person

    Comment by Phylis Feiner Johnson — July 10, 2023 @ 10:20 PM

    Reply

  7. I’ve got cervical spondylosis probably with pinched nerves, seems that can be as bad as any accident causing the same brain trauma, my hippocampus, one side is smaller than the other, don’t know if the arthritis caused that but it’s interesting

    Liked by 1 person

    Comment by Gail Barry — July 11, 2023 @ 11:21 AM

    Reply

  8. Really Interesting post. My mother takes grand mal fits almost every night and its horrible to witness I Feel so bad for people with epilepsy. It really needs to be talked about more.

    Liked by 1 person

    Comment by LazyLiterature — July 11, 2023 @ 3:16 PM

    Reply

  9. Oh no. As someone who hit her head really hard after a failed handstand, this kinda scares me. 😥

    Liked by 1 person

    Comment by Jea Perez — July 12, 2023 @ 10:47 AM

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    About the author

    Phylis Feiner Johnson

    Phylis Feiner Johnson

    I've been a professional copywriter for over 35 years. I also had epilepsy for decades. My mission is advocacy; to increase education, awareness and funding for epilepsy research. Together, we can make a huge difference. If not changing the world, at least helping each other, with wisdom, compassion and sharing.

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