Seizures are abnormal movements or behavior due to unusual electrical activity in the brain. Seizures aren’t always an either-or thing. Some people have seizures that start as one kind, then become another. And it’s not easy to classify some them. There are two main types of seizures but there are also different groups that are included in the types of seizures.

The two main types of seizures are:

• Focal seizures – These start in a part of your brain, and their names are based on the part where they happen. They can cause both physical and emotional effects and it makes you feel, see, or hear things that aren’t even there. About 60% of people with epilepsy have this type of seizure, which is sometimes called a partial seizure. Sometimes, the symptoms of a focal seizure can be mistaken for signs of mental illness or another kind of nerve disorder.

• Generalized seizures – These happen when the nerve cells on both sides of your brain misfire. They can make you have muscle spasms, black out, or fall.

There are six types of generalized seizures:

• Tonic – clonic (or grand mal) seizures – These are the most noticeable. When you have this type, your body stiffens, jerks, and shakes, and you lose consciousness. Sometimes you lose control of your bladder or bowels. They usually last 1 to 3 minutes – if they go on longer, someone should call 911. This could lead to breathing problems or make you bite your tongue or cheek.

• Clonic seizures – Your muscles have spasms, which often make your face, neck, and arm muscles jerk rhythmically. They may last several minutes.

• Tonic seizures – The muscles in your arms, legs, or trunk tense up. These usually last less then 20 seconds and often happen when you’re asleep. If you’re standing up at the time, you can lose your balance and fall.

• Atonic seizures – Your muscles suddenly go limp, and head may lean forward. If you’re holding something, you might drop it. If you are standing, you might fall. These usually last less than 15 seconds, some people have several in a row. Because of the risk of falling, people who tend to have atonic seizures may need to wear something like a helmet to protect their heads.

• Myoclonic seizures – Your muscles suddenly jerk as if you’ve been shocked. They may start in the same part of the brain as an atonic seizure, and some people have both myoclonic and atonic seizures.

• Absence (or petit mal) seizures – You seem disconnected from others around you and don’t respond to them. You may stare blankly into space, and your eyes might roll back in your head. They usually last only a few seconds, and you may not remember having one. They’re most common in children under 14.

There are three groups of focal seizures:

• Simple focal seizures – They change how your senses read the world around you. They can make you smell or taste something strange, and may make your fingers, arms, or legs twitch. You also might see flashes of light or feel dizzy. You’re not likely to lose consciousness, but you might feel sweaty or nauseated.

• Complex focal seizures – These usually happen in the part of your brain that controls emotion and memory. You may lose consciousness but still look like you’re awake, or you may do things like gag, smack your lips, laugh, or cry. It may take several minutes for someone who’s having complex focal seizure to come out of it.

• Secondary generalized seizures – These start in one part of your brain and spread to the nerve cells on both sides. They can cause some of the same physical symptoms as a generalized seizure, like convulsions or muscle slackness.

Seizures in children

A simplified explanation of what happens inside a child’s brain during a seizure is, the brain is made up of billions of nerve cells called neurons, which communicate with one another through tiny electrical impulses. A seizure occurs when many the cells send out an electrical charge at the same time. This abnormal and intense wave of electricity overwhelms the brain and results in a seizure, which can cause a muscle spasm, a loss of consciousness, strange behavior, or other symptoms. Although most seizures aren’t dangerous and don’t require immediate medical attention, one kind does. Status epilepticus is a life – threatening condition in which a person has a prolonged seizure or one seizure after another without regaining consciousness in between them. The risks of status epilepticus increase the longer the seizure goes on, which is which if the seizure lasts more than 5 minutes you should seek emergency help. A low percentage of all children have a seizure when younger than 15 years, half of which are febrile seizures (seizure brought on by a fever).

Types of Seizures:

• Febrile Seizure – occurs when a child contracts an illness such as an ear infection, cold, or chickenpox accompanied by a fever. Febrile seizures are the most common type of seizure seen in children. Two to Five percent of children have a febrile seizure at some point in during their childhood. One out of four children who have a febrile seizure will have another, usually within a year. Children who have had a febrile seizure in the past are also more likely to have a second episode.
• Neonatal Seizure – occur within 28 days of birth. Most occur soon after the child is born. They may be due to a large variety of conditions. It may be difficult to determine if a newborn is actually seizing, because they often do not have convulsions. Instead, their eyes appear to be looking in different directions. They may have lip smacking or periods of no breathing.
• Partial Seizure – Involve only a part of the brain and therefore only a part of the body.
  • Simple Partial (Jacksonian) Seizure – have monitor (movement) component that is located in one portion of the body. Children with these seizures remain awake and alert. Movement abnormalities can “march” to other parts of the body as the seizure progresses.
  • Complex Partial Seizure – Similar to simple seizure, except that the child is not aware of what is going on. Frequency, children with this type od seizure repeat an activity, such as clapping throughout the seizure. They have no memory of this activity., After the seizure ends, the child is often disoriented ia state of know as the postictal period.

Hemp Oil and Seizures

Hemp oil is a powerful cannabinoid found in the Hemp Plant. When extracted Hemp Oil is non-psychoactive in nature as it does not make you high. There have been thousands of years of medical documentation of medical use of cannabinoid. Studies show that Hemp oil can be beneficial in the treatment of epilepsy. Cannabidiol can reduce the seizure frequencies in epilepsy patients.

It is believed that Hemp oil for seizures can help by directly acting on the seizures thus reducing their frequency. Two neurons: “The pre – synaptic cell is releasing a chemical messenger…” Endocannabinoids are made by the receiving cell and sent back across the synapse. In seizure disorders, the sending cell is overexcited, but the receiving cell is not sending back the turn – it – off message. External cannabinoid can say “turn off the message.” There is no fatal overdose because there are no receptors in the area of the brain where the respiration is controlled. The CB2 receptor is mainly in the immune system: spleen, white blood cells, the GI system, the peripheral nervous system, bone, reproductive organs, and heart. The theory is that the body makes them try to catch whatever cannabinoids are coming by. “Researchers think there is an endocannabinoid dysregulation with seizure disorders.” A recent study also found an increased number of CB2 receptors found in the white blood cells in children with autism. “A seizure is a clinical manifestation of hyper excited neuronal network where the electrical balance underlying the normal activity in the brain is pathology altered. Excitation predominates over inhibition. The cannabinoids act to suppress the excitation.”

Examples of how Hemp Oil stop Seizures:

• Hemp Oil blocks NDMA receptor (similar mechanism as Felbamate)
• Hemp Oil enhances GABA receptor (similar mechanism as Felbamate, Depakote, Tegretol, Onfi, and Phenobarbital)
• Hemp Oil stabilizes ion channels (similar mechanism as Banzel, Lamictal, Dilantin, Keppra, and Trileptal)

According to Dr Devinsky, Hemp oil for epilepsy binds to the brain receptor that is found in the endocannabinoid system in the brain. When Hemp oil for seizures interacts with this receptor, it balances the calcium activity in the nerve cells. This reduces the activity of seizures in the brain. Researchers reported that using Hemp oil for Seizures reduces the seizures by 37% in the average patients and for 2% of patient’s seizures completely stopped. Hemp Oil is also neuroprotective – anti – inflammatory and anti – oxidants protect the neurons in the brain. Hemp Oil is also said to help promote new brain cell growth.