WEBVTT - How Epilepsy Works 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:04.560 Welcome to Stuff you Should Know from House Stuff Works 0:00:04.600 --> 0:00:14.440 dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:18.840 There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, and there's guest producer Ramsey 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:23.040 over there. Ramsey guest producer and stuff you should Know, 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:27.720 but straight up producer on movie Crush. Yeah, movie crushers 0:00:27.800 --> 0:00:33.120 might might know Ramsey's name. Hey, Ramsey, he knows that 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:35.760 he knows the joll Well, that's the duct tape over 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:40.800 his mouth helps for sure. So Chuck, today we were 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:43.879 talking about epilepsy and this has been a long time request. 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:46.840 We've gotten requests for this one over the years. Yeah, 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:49.600 plenty of times. And uh, I don't know why it 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:51.120 took us so long to do it, but I'm glad 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:53.800 we finally did because it's something I didn't know about. 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:57.000 I think it's one of those things like you're aware 0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:01.280 of epilepsy and seizures and seizure disorders, but there's almost 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:07.399 like this um cartoonishly narrow version of like what epilepsy is. 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:10.840 It's just a movie version, yes, exactly, um, which actually 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:13.280 is kind of accurate. Depending on the type of epilepsy 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:16.640 or the type of seizure you're having. But um, there's 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:20.680 it's such a broad spectrum of really just kind of 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:25.880 as a physiological brain disorder that can happen in so 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:29.200 many different ways that I had no idea. Yeah, the 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:33.240 the movie while it's sort of like, uh, the every 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:37.680 square is a rectangle type of thing. Like, movies only 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:44.840 display seizures in one way, the Natalie Portman way. Yeah, 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:49.640 the kind where you're like, you're on your back, convulsive, 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:52.760 wildly frothing at the mouth. There's some jerk nearby with 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:55.240 a wooden spoon. That's you don't want to do that. 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:57.320 We should go ahead and say that, maybe more than once. 0:01:57.440 --> 0:01:59.360 Do not stick a spoon or your wallet, or a 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:02.200 credit card anything else in somebody's mouth. He keeps them 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:05.040 from swallowing their tongue. Now, you can't swallow your tongue, no, 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:10.240 because it's attached. I tried, Look, yeah, you all right, 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:14.000 stop it's not working. I was just grabbing a wooden spoon. 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:17.280 You do that, keep that thing away from me. Yeah, 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:20.040 but movies display them as one kind, and that those 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:24.560 definitely exist. But it's far more nuanced than that. Leave 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:27.920 it to movies to get rid of nuance, you know. 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:31.800 But really isn't that the audience is fault. Isn't it 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:34.880 up to the audience whether there's nuance or not. Well, 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:37.600 what like during a seizure scene, next time, we should 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:41.560 all just stand up and shout this isn't real. I 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:44.079 think they would get the picture. All filmmakers would get 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:47.080 the picture. How about some nuance? Well, and also, movies 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:51.519 are all about drama, and a lot of seizures are 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:55.160 not very dramatic. No, it's almost like in certain types 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:58.519 of seizures, somebody like it just kind of zones out 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:00.680 for a second and then comes back back and says, 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:04.639 so what were we just started saying that that constitutes 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:09.359 the seizure? Ak chuck, on any given evening. Sure, there's 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:11.880 probably a big difference of what's going on in the 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:14.960 brain of somebody who's actually enduring a seizure. Right then 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:18.880 then you're zoning out, But to the observer it would 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:22.359 look very similar. All right, that's a nice intro. Let's 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:26.000 talk a little history first, can't we? Yeah, okay, well 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:31.160 I will say this, um, ancient medicine has always been 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:38.400 nutty as a fruitcake, but especially when it comes to seizures, 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:40.880 from how they're diagnosed and what people think is going 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:45.120 on to the various treatments. It is wacky. Yeah, people 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:50.240 with epilepsy have been stigmatized for ever since there was civilization. Basically, 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:55.000 the Code of Hammurabi, the first set of laws from 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:59.920 Mesopotamia four thousand years ago, contains a law that says, 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:02.480 if you have epilepsy, they didn't call it that, but 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:05.720 they were talking about people with epilepsy, you can't get married. Yeah, 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:08.920 they called it like the devil shakes or something basically, 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:11.920 and the idea was that there were that you were 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:15.000 infected with some sort of demon or the devil or 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:17.760 something like that. And what's interesting is that by the 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:21.040 time Hippocrates came around, he was like, no, no, no no, 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:23.680 you guys have it all wrong. This is just some 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:26.239 sort of disorder in the brain. You can probably treat 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:29.200 with diet and exercise and that kind of stuff, which 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:32.640 is actually pretty good advice for somebody who was driving 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:36.400 this years ago. And then somehow they got lost and 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:39.440 there everybody was like, no, no, it's demons, unclean spirits 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:42.520 all that, and it went back to being a very 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:46.599 stigmatized disease. Yeah, it was. It was an unexplainable thing, 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:50.760 and I think back then. Um, now we try to 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:53.159 poke around and learn like the real reasons behind something, 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:55.719 even if it still remains unexplainable at the end. But 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:58.560 back then they would just say they're possessed or they're 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:01.559 a witch, right that which thing? It was in the 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:07.599 Maletheus Maleficarum, the witch the witch Finder's handbook, it was 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:10.840 basically in there, and either if you had epilepsy, you 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:13.360 were a witch or you were possessed by a demon 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:16.680 or in some cases you could be possessed by like 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:19.800 an angel or something like that. Um, but more often 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:22.039 than not, it was like a negative thing, like a 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:26.279 negative spirit had possessed you, or you were under the 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:29.719 influence of a witch. So somebody in your village could 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:32.880 be accused of witchcraft if you had epilepsy because they 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:36.480 were like this, which over here is giving this guy epilepsy. Berner, 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:40.200 that was a thing. So epilepsy has always been tied 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:44.200 to that and that law about people with epilepsy not 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.520 being able to marry. There were laws on the books 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:52.599 in the United States up until nine that said people 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:56.719 with epilepsy can't get married, can't get married. Yeah, but 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:00.200 I'm sure those were those like laws that aren't enforced, right, 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:03.040 or were they literally enforcing those laws? I don't know 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:04.960 that part. I'm sure they were back in like the 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:08.479 twenties and thirties during the eugenics movement, right, I don't 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.360 know that they were up until that sounds like one 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:13.640 of those laws where like you can't spit on the 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:17.960 street after sundown, you can't put lipstick on a horse. Oh, 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:22.039 you can can't spit on the um. And then you know, 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:26.160 ancient treatments are exactly what you would think, like everything 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:32.400 from drinking blood to killing a dog and drinking it's bile. Uh, 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:36.360 if someone's having a seizure near you p in your 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:39.120 shoe and give it to them to drink, like it's 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.800 a jellyfish sting. Yeah, but in the shoe. I I 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:45.440 don't know, Like what is that just because they know 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:47.840 that that you have something that holds urine? That would 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:50.160 be my guess. Okay, I didn't know if that was like, oh, no, 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:54.479 a p into like cupped hands, you're cupped hands and 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:57.239 then just kind of like just drop it onto their mouth. 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:00.840 God regardless. That's another thing. Don't put a wallet or 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:03.040 a spoon or a credit card in somebody's mouth. Don't 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:06.160 put your urine in somebody who's having a seizure's mouth. 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:10.200 Doesn't help. Um. I also saw that it wasn't until 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:13.200 the eighteenth century that people finally were like, I don't 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:16.720 think this is actually infectious. One of the reasons why 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:21.480 people with epilepsy were so shunned, just shunned and stigmatized 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:24.560 and just kept on the outskirts or the yeah, the 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:28.200 outskirts of society because people thought epilepsy was contagious and 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:32.040 you can catch it from the breath of someone with epilepsy. 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:36.920 So like people with epilepsy have been treated horribly for 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:41.600 all the time basically, so hopefully we can kind of 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:45.720 dispel any of the last myths around it. That's my 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:47.800 hope with this episode, Chuck, Let's see if we can 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.440 do it. Okay, Well, we like to start off every 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:54.160 episode by stating our hopes and dreams. You know. Uh so, 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:56.560 what's going on in the brain. We'll get to that 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.000 a little bit more in detail, but kind of the 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:02.680 way this article in our on our own website puts it, 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:06.800 which this was so like ten years ago writing wise, 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:10.679 but they basically talk about a kind of traffic jam 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:14.680 in your brain when there's confusion when there's too much, 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:19.320 too many neurons firing at once, and uh, it can 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:24.440 cause an overwhelming sensation that can eventually cause a seizure. Yeah. 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:28.440 It's like, um, I've seen it compared to like electrical storms. Yeah, 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:34.120 where basically it's a a sudden overload, an electrical overload 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:38.080 in your brain and your brains just like I'm just 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:41.800 shutting down here for a second and then it resets itself. 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:47.679 Your brain sounds like pop Newark? Yeah, mind does mine? Uh? 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:51.640 Mind us? Um? And you said from from a bunch 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:54.200 of neurons firing at once, Yeah, not just a bunch 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:57.280 of neurons, but those neurons that are firing fire a 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:00.760 lot more than usual too, something like so they fire 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:04.800 eighty times a second normally, where during a seizure they're 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.959 going to fire like five times a second. Yeah. And 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:11.280 you know, we'll talk about the brain machines later. But 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:14.959 one thing that's characteristic of UH seizures is when they 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:18.199 look at your brain scan, they're big peaks and valleys. 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:22.600 It's not a steady stream of do do do do? 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:28.760 Just make that noise? Who knew he was going to 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:33.120 show up? That's great uh, but let's talk about some 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:35.600 of the types of seizures. UM. There are a couple 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:42.559 of broader categories, focal seizures or generalized seizures. Focal seizures 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:45.199 are just in one part of the brain, were generalized 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:49.240 and I think about six people with epilepsy have the 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:53.000 focal kind and generalized are on both sides of the brain. Yeah, 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:55.800 like your whole brain is under attack. Whereas yeah, the 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:59.640 focal seizures, it could just be from like a lesion 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:03.360 in its specific part, or there's something that's hypersensitive that's 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:06.000 just just one tiny region of your brain, but it's 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:10.320 enough to do some wacky stuff to you. And within 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:14.920 those groups, there are further subgroups, for instance, a simple 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:17.320 focal seizure or a complex focal seizure, or the two 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:23.960 types of focal seizures. So as simple focal seizure is UM, 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:27.000 you're you just kind of have like a weird feeling 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:30.040 like you're conscious the whole time, yes, yeh. And it's 0:10:30.120 --> 0:10:35.200 also sometimes called an aura and an aura itself. It 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:37.520 can just be a stand alone seizure, but it's kind 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:40.720 of like seizure light L I T E. Right. Um. 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:45.559 But that same simple focal seizure can also be the 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:50.320 beginning of a larger complex focal seizure larger seizure of 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:53.640 either type, where um, it's just the ora, it's just 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:55.800 the beginning symptoms of it. So it can be stand 0:10:55.840 --> 0:11:00.640 alone or it can lead to a larger um seizure. Yeah, 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:02.600 and we'll we'll get in you send a really cool thing. 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:05.200 We'll get into in a second about like exactly what 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:08.920 a seizure is like. But quickly a complex vocal seizure 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:14.079 the other type of focal seizure, UM, you do lose consciousness. Um. 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:18.680 And if you are around someone that has one of these, uh, 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:21.560 you might see it's a little bit more like what 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:24.280 you would think of as a movie seizure. Yeah, life 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.120 of a better term. It can be like twitching, blinking, 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:31.319 Maybe someone's just sort of, um, seems dazed and sort 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:33.600 of walking around. Well that's the thing that got me, 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:36.440 Like when I think of, well they lost consciousness, it 0:11:36.679 --> 0:11:40.320 means they fainted or whatever. That's not necessarily what that 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:43.400 means when you're having a seizure, Like, lose consciousness means 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:46.079 like you you're not there, you blacked out, you're gone, 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.800 You're not you're not your awareness is no longer functioning 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:53.000 in the here and now. But people standing around you, 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:55.360 they might see you just kind of walking slowly around 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:57.680 in a circle or something like that, or sitting upright 0:11:57.679 --> 0:11:59.360 and just kind of with a blank look on your 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:03.200 face or something like. It's not the traditional just falling over, 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:07.280 fainting away loss of consciousness. That was that was new 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:09.920 info to me. Yeah, and this aora you were talking about, 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:13.120 it's really interesting that UM. Other document you sent was, 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:18.760 I had no idea that you if you're a person 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:23.040 with epilepsy, you can sometimes and it's it's different for everyone, 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:27.120 but sometimes you can sense these seizures coming on days 0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:30.760 ahead of time. Yeah, that's I've never heard of that. Yeah. 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:34.000 I think when you when you get when you start 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:37.920 having seizures, if you UM are an actual like if 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:43.160 you actually have epilepsy UM, you will start to notice 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:48.400 patterns stereotypic. It means like it's typically follows the same patterns, 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:52.559 the same sensations, and an aura can be anything from 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:56.440 seeing blinking lights to hearing a humming sound to suddenly 0:12:56.920 --> 0:13:02.160 inexplicably experiencing panic or joy, or all number of things. 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:05.920 But basically, your brain is suddenly doing something. It's suddenly 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:10.439 getting a jolt of electricity that's actually not being stimulated 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.920 from anything outside. You're not actually seeing bright lights, but 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:17.760 your brain is showing you bright lights because that impulse 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:20.120 is actually starting from the inside rather than coming from 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:23.080 the outside in. That could be an oora. It could 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:25.319 also be a weird taste. Yeah. I think a lot 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:28.360 of times too, it's um People that experience the aura 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:30.840 have a hard time describing it in a way that 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:34.319 people that have never experienced the aura can understand. That's 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:37.240 sort of one of the hallmarks of it is, you know, 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:40.080 people like us end up stammering out you know, a 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.480 bunch of things that we can relate to. But I 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:46.120 think if you have had this sensation, it's sort of 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:47.520 one of those things like you've got to kind of 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:49.880 have it to really understand what it feels like. And 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:53.920 and the reason why is because you're probably different parts 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:58.040 of your brain that don't normally co function are functioning together, 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:02.360 and the information you're getting is being merged together into 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.719 it just a totally novel experience that no human has 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.400 ever had before. Yeah, which is pretty awesome if you 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:12.880 think about it in that way. Yeah, so pre seizure, um, 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:15.520 a lot of different things can be happening. You can 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.920 smell things, you can hear things, you could taste things. 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.800 You might get blurry vision or like you might have 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:27.440 a visual loss briefly or momentarily. Um, like you said, 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:29.840 it might be a very pleasant feeling. It can be. 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:32.720 I hope. I just wish it was like that for everybody. Sure, 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:35.520 I wish everybody who had epilepsy just had nothing but 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:42.000 pleasant brain attacks. Yeah, I totally agree. Uh So that's 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:46.480 at the onset um sort of pre seizure activity, when 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:50.240 you start to recognize these symptoms, and that's when you 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:52.520 might tell, you know, your friend or loved one or 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:55.960 whoever you're with, like, hey, I may have a seizure 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:59.800 here soon or maybe hours from now. Yeah. Um. And 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:02.480 I think this is from the Epilepsy Foundation, is called 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:05.160 what happens during a seizure Really interesting. Yeah, But they 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:10.080 say like every seizure has three stages to it. It's 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:13.320 just some are really hard to discern, Some appear to 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:17.600 just be the first, some have like clearly all three. Um. 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:21.720 But that beginning thing can technically stand alone, and aura 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:24.680 can be its own, like seizure light like I was saying, 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:27.920 but more often than not, it will lead into the 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:31.440 middle part of the um the seizure, which is called 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:36.320 the ictic stage of the seizure. Yes, and that's from 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:39.720 the first time symptoms and the aura accounts as a 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:43.280 symptom like, that's officially part of the seizure. Uh, to 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:47.480 the to the end of seizure activity activities at middle section. Yeah, 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:49.360 and the middle section is what you usually think of 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:51.240 as a seizure like that. It can be the classic 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:54.560 movie seizure where you can be um, you can convulse, 0:15:55.160 --> 0:16:01.479 you can um your your your muscles might tighten suddenly um, 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:07.320 and you might go rigid. You might actually lose muscle uma. 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:09.520 And either way what those will result in it is 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:12.520 called a drop attack where you are standing up and 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:14.200 all of a sudden you tense up and fall over 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:16.560 like remember the fainting goats. Yeah, my clients, I knew 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:19.160 I knew that word from something my clonic goats and 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:22.920 then um or you can just lose muscle tone and 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:25.400 fall over. But either way it can be really bad 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:28.280 news for you because you can hit your head and um, 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:31.080 you can cut yourself. It's it's not good to fall 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:35.720 over with zero control over your body. No. And then um, 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:41.440 the final phase is post seizure, and that is that 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:44.280 can be really rough. Um, and it can take hours 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:47.960 or days to kind of fully feel like yourself again. Um. 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:49.920 And if someone and we'll talk about what to do 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:53.000 during a seizure, of course, Um, if you are around 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:55.680 someone that's having one, don't put your wallet in their mouth. 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:58.560 But post seizure is very important too, because you need 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:01.920 to be there and be very comforting and um, just 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:05.800 sort of take things slow in general. So um, that's 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:08.640 called the post ictic phase. And that can actually last 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:12.040 a lot longer than either of the other two phases 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:15.000 of a seizure. It can last twenty minutes, thirty minutes, 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:18.159 an hour, who knows. Yeah, you could be sleepy or 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:23.200 scared or anxious, have memory loss, uh, difficulty talking. It's 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:27.080 basically what it sounds like is is your brain and 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:31.120 your body has just undergone a traumatic experience and it's 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:33.800 just rough. Yeah, and it had to reset itself and 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:37.199 it was a hard reset and now you're paying the 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:39.760 prices price of it. Yeah. And that's not to even 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:42.000 mention um, some of the physical things. That is one 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:45.240 of the real dangers of having a seizure as if 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:49.320 you know, you fall on a glass coffee table or 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:53.560 you know, all the supplementary physical uh injuries that can occur. 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:55.480 One of the things that stuck out to me from 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:59.320 this UM Epilepsy Foundation article was that one of the 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:03.760 signs and symptoms of the posteictic phase is um that 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:08.040 the person may be frustrated, embarrassed, or ashamed. Man, that 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:12.040 is so sad. Um, that's just so sad, you know, 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:14.600 And I think it comes up later on too. And 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:17.720 this article from how Stuff Works about like the challenges 0:18:17.760 --> 0:18:20.760 of living with epileps and you know, one of them, 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:24.639 I'm sure is just feeling stigmatized. Sure, people, Yeah, you 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:26.359 want to take a break. Yeah, we'll take a break 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:28.800 and we'll pick up with the different types of generalized 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:31.760 seizures right after this. If you want to know, then 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:55.760 you're in luck. Just listen to Chuck self fusire. Alright, 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:59.040 So generalized seizures. Remember we broke it down into the 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:03.520 two broad category raised focal generalized. There are many kinds 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:07.320 of generalized seizures. UM. The words you won't hear anymore 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:10.840 from a doctor are petite mall and grand mall. Seizures. 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:15.560 Those are outdated terms, but um, what they are now 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:18.720 referred to as is formally petite mall seizures are now 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:23.760 known as absence seizures uh and grand Mall are now 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:27.800 known as tonic clonic seizures. And and yes they are outdated, 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:32.359 but they still kind of highlight the early contributions of 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:35.240 some of the first French neurologists in the late eighteenth 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:41.240 century Dr Grandmall, who Stanley grand Mall. French neurologists. Um, 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:45.639 they helped pull this out of the realm of superstition. 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:48.600 And you know you can catch it from like someone 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:51.199 with epilepsy breathing on you. So hats off to the 0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:55.480 early French neurologists for at least studying and identifying it. 0:19:55.560 --> 0:19:58.239 But that's why, that's why there are French terms that 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:01.280 were applied to it previously. Just stuff to your work, 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:03.560 pie hat I did actually a little chorus line thing 0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:05.080 like you can't see un at the table of my 0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:09.000 foot's kicking too. Uh So one of the uh like 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:12.200 I like I said, the absent seizure formally petite mas seizure. 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:16.040 This is usually in children, and I think overall, I 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:19.360 don't know if you mentioned that children and people over 0:20:19.440 --> 0:20:25.400 seventy five are most likely to have epilepsy, which is interesting, 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:28.919 and you can grow out of it depending on the 0:20:28.960 --> 0:20:31.720 type of epilepsy, and I think you can even grow 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:33.960 back into it in your older age. Yeah, if you're 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:36.159 seventy five or older, you're at high you're at the 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:40.879 highest risk developing epilepsy. So the absent seizures um, like 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:45.119 I said, are mostly in children. Um, that's just like 0:20:45.119 --> 0:20:47.640 where they zoned out, all yeah, exactly. You might see 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:50.359 some eyelid fluttering or something like that, or a twitch 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:52.879 or two, and it might just be a few seconds 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:55.639 long and then it's over. Very hard to spot what 0:20:56.040 --> 0:20:57.920 was just going on. Were you thinking about Barney or 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:00.800 were you having You're just tired like it, it's tough 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:04.480 to spot. I think clonic seizures you will have convulsions 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:08.159 and jerking movements on both sides of your body. Myoclonic 0:21:08.280 --> 0:21:10.960 like we talked about with the Goats, and it's funny. 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:13.879 I just was going through the archive today and I 0:21:14.000 --> 0:21:16.600 saw her that was one of the best titles we've 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:20.600 ever had, that dangle Goat fell Over on a Fainting Goat. 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:24.160 I think that was one of yours. Maybe, I'm pretty sure. 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:29.359 But myoclonic seizures, uh, the upper body is mainly involved, 0:21:30.040 --> 0:21:32.399 and it might look like someone has been shocked, like 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:36.399 a jerking of the upper body. The tonic seizures is 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:38.920 when you stiffen up, like you were talking about. Yeah, 0:21:39.840 --> 0:21:42.560 we just suddenly your muscles go fully tense and you 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:46.560 just can't control them anymore. A tonic is the other 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:49.160 one that you were talking about, when you lose muscle control. Yeah. 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:52.879 And then there's the big daddy. This is the movie seizure, 0:21:53.080 --> 0:21:56.760 the tonic clonic seizure. Yes, just the name of it 0:21:56.800 --> 0:22:00.760 sounds menacing, you know, the tonic clonic. It sounds like, uh, 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:04.679 Star Wars character from the dark Side or something chronic. 0:22:04.840 --> 0:22:08.400 The Fallen. Yeah, Grandmaal does too well. I think because 0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:10.920 of the dark Mall thing and grand mof Darken. It's 0:22:10.920 --> 0:22:14.160 a combination. Okay. I don't know who that last guy 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:17.520 is grand mof Darken. Yeah, which one is that? All right? 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:19.200 We should just move past this. No, No, I need 0:22:19.240 --> 0:22:22.080 to know, especially if it's somebody from like the original three. 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:25.720 I think grand mof Tarkin was the guy. Wasn't that 0:22:25.760 --> 0:22:33.119 Peter Cushing? Yeah? Okay, the digitally Peter Cushing instead of 0:22:33.119 --> 0:22:36.800 fran Tarkington. What are you talking about? So the tonic 0:22:36.840 --> 0:22:39.560 chronic movie style seizure is that that's the one that 0:22:39.640 --> 0:22:42.720 you've probably seen on TV and films and after school specialist. 0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:46.840 Is when the body stiffens, you sort of pass out 0:22:46.880 --> 0:22:49.959 on the floor and your body is convulsive and jerking 0:22:49.960 --> 0:22:52.120 on the ground. You're like eyes roll back in your head. Yeah, 0:22:52.320 --> 0:22:53.920 that kind of thing. I couldn't tell if it kind 0:22:53.920 --> 0:22:57.320 of alternates back between the two, or if it follows 0:22:57.359 --> 0:23:01.200 that discernible pattern where it goes tonic like your muscles 0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:05.520 tents you fall over, followed by chronic so you're convulsive 0:23:05.640 --> 0:23:08.600 after that, or if you kind of bounce back and forth, 0:23:08.600 --> 0:23:11.920 which would be pretty awful too. Yeah. Um, but that's yeah, 0:23:12.000 --> 0:23:14.439 that's the like you said, the movie, that's the movie 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:16.359 seizure that use. I've never it just occurred to me. 0:23:16.400 --> 0:23:18.880 I've never seen someone have a seizure that that I 0:23:18.920 --> 0:23:23.119 could recognize. I'm not either, Yeah you just knocked would 0:23:23.320 --> 0:23:25.199 I did? Is that someone trying to come into this 0:23:25.240 --> 0:23:27.200 is like particle board? But I think it's still that 0:23:27.320 --> 0:23:33.360 counts um seizure is generally are pretty brief a few seconds, 0:23:33.600 --> 0:23:37.600 maybe a few minutes at the most, uh in most cases. 0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:41.040 But they, like we said, they take a lot out 0:23:41.080 --> 0:23:45.760 of your brain and body. Yeah, it's rough stuff. Here's 0:23:45.800 --> 0:23:49.159 the thing. It's like, so tens your tents all, like 0:23:49.240 --> 0:23:50.680 all the muscles in your body for a second. I 0:23:50.720 --> 0:23:52.520 don't even know how to do that, So it's it's 0:23:52.560 --> 0:23:54.679 like just doing it for a second. Sure, I'm like, 0:23:54.720 --> 0:23:58.120