Febrile (doctor speak for “related to fever”) seizures are seizures that happen in kids who have a fever. Up to 5 percent of children have at least one of these and – while scary for parents – they are usually harmless and do not require treatment.
Finally, here is where we have personal experience (okay, as you will see throughout this blog, we have way too much personal neuro experience!). When I was pregnant with my second child, my daughter had a cold and a fever. She was uncomfortable, so I was alternating Tylenol with Motrin to keep it down. I was on bedrest. My mother mentioned that she was hot again and since she wasn't due for another dose for 20 minutes, I started to wipe her down with a cool cloth.
That's when it happened. She went sort of rigid, but limp at the same time, if that makes sense. She didn't foam at the mouth or convulse, but it would have been easy to see she was seizing, even if I had never seen a seizure before.
I asked my mother to call 911. She kept saying, "What? Why?" and by the time I explained it, the seizure was over. I checked my daughter's temperature and it was over 104. Ugh. We headed for the E.R.
That was her only seizure and she doesn't appear to have any residual problems from it.
Recently, some scientists in France published a study in the medical journal, Neurology, where they talked about two genes they believe are linked to febrile seizures.
They studied 51 individuals in four generations of the same family. Thirteen of the people in this family had seizures related to fevers in childhood before the age of seven. Six of those 13 later developed epilepsy.
By comparing the 13 family members who had a history of febrile seizures with 13 other family members who had never had seizures, the researchers found that the family members who had had seizures had some similarities on two chromosomes, 3 and 18.
Previous studies have also found that febrile seizures can be associated with chromosomes.
The researchers hope that by understanding more about febrile seizures, the can improve the treatment and possibly even prevent the disorder.
No comments:
Post a Comment