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Dakoda Charles Lipke

Professor Watkins

Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11:30

9 November 2016

The Dimensions of Technology Affiliated with Seizures

Did you know that the world population is over seven billion and increasing with every

second that goes by (Current World Population)? And out of that seven billion, over fifty

million people worldwide are affected with epilepsy (Scott 1). These statistics show just how

much research has been accomplished, and what research still needs to be done. As part of the

fifty million, Im looking forward to the upcoming technological advancements that are to come

in the near future. Epilepsy has impacted my life in a negative and positive way, and with the

advances in technology my life may change forever.

There are six different types of seizures that can happen to many types of people. These

generalized types of seizures that have been discovered consists of generalized tonic-clonic,

absence, myoclonic, clonic, tonic, and atonic seizures. A seizure is an occasional, an excessive,

and a disorderly discharge of nerve tissue on muscles. Seizures can alter consciousness,

sensation, and behavior (Jubilee 630-636). Often times, seizures can cause bizarre emotions or

have the patient zoning in and out. Though it may look like the patient is just daydreaming, in

reality the only brain function that is occurring is the electronic pulses from the seizure. Here the

patient is not aware of whats happing in the outside world. Generalized seizures involve the

whole brain and result in a patients consciousness being lost at the onset of a seizure (Seizure

Classification).
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Generalized tonic-clonic seizures consists of unconsciousness, convulsions, and muscle

rigidity. The patient exhibits a sign of spacing out at first, then moves on to the stage of either

fully collapsing or tensing up. The final stage to this type of seizure is the patient will then start

convulsing and the muscles will start to tense up. This usually last one to two minutes, but if it

last more than five minutes it can result in brain damage. After a while, the patient should return

back to consciousness, though they might be slurring their words and the patient may be

exhausted afterwards (Epileptic Seizure Prediction).

On the other hand, absence seizures are just a brief loss of consciousness. The patient

exhibit behaviors of going in and out of consciousness. Its mainly noticeable if the patient is in

the middle of a conversation, they would usually stop abruptly then when the seizure is done,

they will pick back up where they left off. But to the patient its not usually noticeable; they

would feel like no time had passed. Myoclonic seizures are sporadic isolated repetitive jerking

movements from random parts of the body. The patient could have a twitching finger, eye lid, or

any random part of the body. When this occurs patients usually maintain memory, though they

might have a headache afterwards (Epileptic Seizure Prediction).

When it comes to clonic seizures, its a repetitive jerking movement that is usually

isolated to only one part of the body, or both. This might make the patient annoyed, because its

only one part of the body that is constantly moving. Additionally, tonic seizures are similar to

clonic seizure. The only main difference between clonic and tonic seizures is that tonic seizure

patients usually stiffen up instead of having small twitching. The last generalized seizure that has

been classified is atonic. This is when the patient loses muscle tone and they clasp to the ground.

This may result in a loss of consciousness but mainly just a slight fall (Epileptic Seizure

Prediction).
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Nonetheless, with these different types of occurring seizures, there is advanced

technology out there that is beneficial not only to the patient, but also to scientists and doctors

who are researching these generalized conditions. Some of this technology includes, but is not

limited to, flicker-free monitors, monitor glare guards, browser options for animation and audio,

auto-dial feature in telephones, electronic organizers, and picture exchange communication

systems. Though, I have personally experienced the technology of electroencephalography

(EEG), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG), which is

sometimes referred to as magnetic source imaging (MSI), positron emission tomography (PET),

and different types of blood tests. I have only just recently learned in my psychology class that in

extreme situations, with people who are living with epilepsy, neuroscientist now found a way to

slit the left and right hemispheres of the brain. With this process it deviates the flow of electrons

that are being fired off from each side of the brain, to prevent the buildup of electrons that would

in the long run, build up and start an onset of a seizure.

Though, the process of splitting the brain, is very dangerous and has a lot of setbacks,

with people that really need it, the technology is life changing. Other technology that is less risky

would be the medication they have come up with, and the tests they run to help find out what is

causing the seizures in the patients. From experience, with the EEG technology the neurologist

asked me to stay up for forty-eight hours in advance, and when I went in for my appointment the

neurologist hooked up little magnetic pieces to the outside of my head. They asked me to do a lot

of different breathing activities to try and get me to become light headed. Then they turn off all

the lights and had a strobe light placed in front of my eyes. Here they asked me to close my eyes

and relax and they started different sequences for the flashing lights. The flashes started out slow

and as time progressed they sped up the time between each flash, to where there was a
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millisecond between each of them. After this process was completed, they asked me to relax and

try to fall asleep, and during this step they measured the electronic waves that my brain was

sending off while I was relaxing. For the entirety of this process, they had a camera on me just in

case they missed something, so that they are able to refer back to the video and see the exact time

in which something occurred. This technology is beneficial only if the patient has a seizure while

this test is going on, because if the patient doesnt have a seizure, then the results will come back

inconclusive. My results came back inconclusive when I had this procedure done, due to the fact

that I was on a really high level of seizure medication.

Additionally, Ive also had an MRI done. This is where the neurologists scan the brain to

see if there are any lesions within any hemisphere of the brain that might be causing the seizures.

This process took about two hours and due to this type of technology, I had to remove all metal

objects on my person, so that there would not be any magnetic interference or damage to me or

the test results. With this type of technology that has been discovered, doctors are better able to

view the whole brain and notice irregularities that might be wrong within the brain. Doctors are

also equipped to help patients receive the right type of medical care that they need to help them

be better able to function in their daily lives.

Equally important, not all this technology that is out there to help diagnose epilepsy is all

good. Some technology, like with any other, has its downfalls. With the technology that is

affiliated with seizures, some might say its not very efficient. Not only does it take excessive

periods of time for them to come to a conclusion about what part of the brain your seizures

usually arise from, but it also takes a while for them to get the medication leveled out so that the

patient does not suffer from daily seizures. Speaking from experience, when they started to

medicate me, my epilepsy was out of control. After I started on my first prescription of seizure
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medicine, I was still having a large number of seizures monthly. The neurologist kept

intensifying the level of my prescription, and then they decided to put me on another medication

as well. As with most medications, they come with side effects. The medication Im on is Keppra

and Oxteller XR, and I take 4,600 milligrams a day. The side effects of this medication are

endless, but the most critical side effects are - extreme drossiness, memory loss, and ironically

more seizures.

Nonetheless, with all this technology that is offered just with the diagnosing of epilepsy,

theyre still making more and more advances in the way they help the patients that are living

with this critical condition. Doctors generally start with therapeutic procedures, which involve

helping the patients remember dates and times, and little reminders that need to be done. These

procedures also work hand-in-hand to help the patients receive the best care that they need, and

discover what is causing them to have seizures. The technology is and will always be advancing

to help improve the lives of people that are living with epilepsy.

Though epilepsy has majorly affected my life in a positive and negative way, with all

these advances in technology there is no doubt that my life will change in a satisfying way. Im

looking forward to the day that I am able to live seizure free and not have all these side effects

that my medication causes. The technology is always moving forward, and I can only imagine

what they will come up next.

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Works Cited

"Current World Population. World Population Clock: 7.5 Billion People (2016).

http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2016.

Epilepsy Stigma: Moving from a Global Problem to Global ... Seizure. Hanneke M. De Boer,

Dec. 2010. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059131110002487.

Accessed 28 Oct. 2016.

Scott, Robert A., Samden D. Lhatoo, and Josemir WAS Sander. The treatment of epilepsy in

developing countries: where do we go from here?. Bulletin of the World Health

Organization 79.4 (2001): 344-351. http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?pid=S0042-

96862001000400012&script=sci_arttext Accessed 28 Oct. 2016.

Seizure Classification. Seizure Smart. March 28, 2012.

http://www.epilepsy.org.au/sites/default/files/Seizure%20Smart%20-%20Classification

%20of%20Seizures.pdf Accessed 28 Oct. 2016.

Types of Seizures and Seizure Symptoms: Grand Mal Seizure, Myoclonic Seizure, and More -

WebMD, http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/guide/types-of-seizures-their-symptoms

Accessed 28 Oct. 2016.