Seizure secondary prevention
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Shakiba Hassanzadeh, MD[2]
The following tips may help reduce the risk of recurrent seizure:
Always take your medications as your doctor instructed. Family members should observe and record any seizure information to make sure the person gets proper treatment.Get plenty of quality sleep, reduce stress, exercise, and eat a healthy diet. Poor health habits can make you more likely to have more seizures.
You might help lower your risk of seizures if you:
Use helmets to prevent head injury. This will lessen the likelihood of a brain injury that leads to seizures.Avoid illegal street drugs.
You should not drive if you have uncontrolled seizures. Every U.S. state has a different law detailing which people with a history of seizures are allowed to drive. If you have uncontrolled seizures, you should avoid activities where loss of awareness would cause great danger, such as climbing to high places, biking, and swimming alone.
Overview
Patients that have has first seizures should be counseled for their seizure and the possible etiology, lifestyle considerations (safety measures and avoidance of the factors that can lower the seizure threshold and predispose to recurrences, such as sleep deprivation, use of alcohol, and illicit drugs), driving, antiepileptic drugs (AED) and their side effects, and follow-up. Patients, family members, friends, and co-workers should be counseled for seizure first aid during a seizure event such as removal of harmful objects, repositioning the patient in order to support breathing, timing the seizure, calling for help, not restraining or holding the patient down, and not putting anything in the patient's mouth.
Secondary Prevention
Patients that have has first seizures should be counseled for:[1]
- What a seizure is and the possible etiology
- Lifestyle considerations:
- Safety measures such as in cooking, exercising, and work-related activities
- Avoidance of the factors that can lower the seizure threshold and predispose to recurrences, such as sleep deprivation, use of alcohol, and illicit drugs
- Driving
- The requirements and limitations may differ in different individuals
- Seizure first aid (patients, family members, friends, and co-workers):
- Removal of harmful objects
- Comfort pillow under the head, loosen tight clothing, removal of eyeglasses
- Reposition the patient in order to support breathing
- Stay with the patients until the end of the seizure
- Time the seizure
- Call for emergency help
- Do not restrain or hold the patient down
- Do not put anything in the patient's mouth
- Role of antiepileptic drugs (AED) if required, and their actions and side effects
- Psychological implications (cognitive and emotional)
- Follow-up and when to call for help
References
- ↑ Legg KT, Newton M (2017). "Counselling adults who experience a first seizure". Seizure. 49: 64–68. doi:10.1016/j.seizure.2016.09.012. PMID 27720347.