Loss of consciousness with convulsions: causes and what to do

Causes of convulsive fainting

As a rule, for the development of such a condition, there are predisposing factors that have a direct impact on the human body.

The most common factors that may be accompanied by seizures are:

• physical and mental trauma;
• pain attack, fear, prolonged stay in a stuffy room;
• sudden change in body position (from horizontal to vertical);
• drop or increase in blood pressure;
• heart attack, arrhythmia;
• in some cases, an attack occurs due to a malfunction of internal organs (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, central nervous system disorder, vascular problems, etc.).

Quite often, loss of consciousness, accompanied by convulsive syndrome, occurs as a result of tumor-like neoplasms in the brain and epilepsy.

Tomogram of a malignant brain tumor that compresses blood vessels and nerve endings, leading to loss of consciousness

The etiology of a neuroepileptic attack is not fully understood, but, as a rule, this condition is accompanied by stroke, anoxia (hypoxia) of the meninges, which leads to loss of consciousness.

What causes fainting?

The most common reasons are shown here. Fainting may have one or more associated precipitating factors.

The list indicates the possible origins of this condition: high pressure in the head, tumors in the brain, neck muscles constantly tense, trauma or concussions, changes in the position of the vertebrae in the neck, infections, prolonged tension of the central nervous system.

In older people:

In children and adolescents:

In ordinary patients:

Types of fainting and their consequences

Spontaneous loss of consciousness can be short-term and persistent. As is correct, short-term fainting does not pose a threat to life and lasts no more than a few minutes.

Short-term fainting can occur with the following diseases:

• state of hypoglycemia (sharp decrease in blood glucose);
• epilepsy;
• ONMK;
• a sharp change in blood pressure;
• minor brain injuries (concussions, bruises).

Persistent loss of consciousness is accompanied by more dangerous consequences, and even if timely assistance is provided, a threat to the patient’s life remains. The development of persistent fainting is possible as a result of the following factors:

• extensive strokes and cerebral hemorrhages;
• cardiac arrest and arrhythmia;
• subarachnoid hemorrhages resulting from aortic ruptures;
• various states of shock;
• severe TBI;
• acute poisoning of the body;
• heavy bleeding due to damage to internal organs.

In addition, the pathological condition may be the result of asphyxia with prolonged oxygen starvation.

What should a person who has just experienced a loss of consciousness with convulsions do?

After a person who has lost consciousness has woken up, it is recommended that he:

• Refuse the offered water or food; the body needs a little rest, especially if the loss of consciousness was accompanied by vomiting.
• You cannot immediately take a vertical position; you need to lie in a horizontal position for at least 10 minutes.

If loss of consciousness with convulsions was observed in a teenager, then most likely this is due to the presence of vegetative-vascular distance and you should definitely consult a doctor. As a rule, during adolescence, the child’s blood vessels do not have time to adapt to his growth rate and this leads to the development of vegetative-vascular distance, which, in turn, contributes to frequent loss of consciousness. At the same time, the threshold for convulsive readiness in the adolescent’s brain is reduced, and this increases the chance of loss of consciousness with convulsions.

It is worth noting that if loss of consciousness with convulsions was observed only once and this is associated with external factors, then you do not need to contact a medical facility. But if this happens more than once and it is not associated with external factors, you should immediately go to the hospital, this may be a sign of a serious illness. This is especially true for children and the elderly.

Factors influencing the development of the disease

Loss of consciousness depends on the cause of its occurrence:

Hyperthermia

Quite often, the cause of seizures, which are accompanied by loss of consciousness, is high body temperature. Most often, hyperthermia with convulsions occurs in childhood. For adult patients, the temperature limit is 40 degrees. In children, convulsions can occur at a temperature of 38-39 degrees. In this case, the symptoms of the pathological condition appear suddenly. The child tenses, his head is thrown back, and his gaze is fixed at one point, then a convulsive attack occurs.

Pregnancy

Loss of consciousness, accompanied by convulsions in pregnant women, is considered one of the most dangerous complications, the result of which can be premature birth, disturbances in intrauterine development of the fetus, etc. This condition reminds us of coma and with frequent fainting, there is a possibility of death for the woman.

Cramps during pregnancy are a dangerous symptom that requires immediate medical attention.

Alcohol intoxication

This condition does not appear very often, but is considered a rather serious problem in medicine. This situation is accompanied by sudden pallor of the patient, he loses consciousness with the onset of a convulsive attack. Loss of consciousness can be sudden, and after the attacks the patient can sleep soundly for 6-7 hours.

Quite often, alcohol intoxication takes on a chronic form, recurring regularly. Uncontrolled consumption of alcohol can provoke the development of irreversible processes in the brain, which cause fainting, accompanied by convulsions, even in the absence of alcohol intake.

Development of convulsive syndrome in children

Sudden fainting in children, accompanied by convulsions, requires mandatory medical intervention, since the consequences of such symptoms can be unpredictable. Often the cause of this condition is traumatic brain injury. Brief loss of consciousness is complicated by sudden bleeding from the ears and mouth. In this case, emergency hospitalization of the child is necessary to clarify the diagnosis and further treatment.

The appearance of convulsive syndrome in children may be a sign of traumatic brain injury

In children under 2 years of age, convulsive fainting is possible with increased excitability of the nervous system. In this case, an external stimulus can be a loud cry, which is accompanied by cessation of breathing during inspiration, cyanosis of the nasolabial triangle and hypoxia, which ultimately leads to loss of consciousness. However, it is important to consider that in some cases the opposite effect is possible when fainting is preceded by a seizure, which is most often provoked by hyperthermia. In addition, children have a hereditary predisposition to developing seizures, which can occur with normal fainting.

Treatment of seizures at the Yusupov Hospital

At the Yusupov Hospital, patients are seen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Doctors will quickly and efficiently diagnose, determine the cause of seizures and prescribe a course of effective treatment. The clinic accepts patients aged 18 years and older.

After a seizure, patients require hospitalization. The wards of the Yusupov Hospital are equipped with modern medical equipment, appliances, and comfortable furniture, which makes the patient’s stay in the hospital comfortable. The professionalism of the doctors at the Yusupov Hospital allows them to “get patients back on their feet” in a short time and avoid complications and repeated convulsive seizures.

Under no circumstances should seizures be ignored; they do not go away on their own, seizures will recur more often, and the disease will begin to progress. Timely medical intervention for seizures is very important to avoid the development of severe pathologies.

You can make an appointment at the Yusupov Hospital by phone.

Differences between epilepsy and convulsive syncope

When diagnosing, it is necessary to differentiate epilepsy from convulsive syncope, since both of these conditions are accompanied by changes in blood pressure and pupil dilation. As a rule, after loss of consciousness has occurred, the patient cannot remember what preceded such a state.

However, there are differences between an epileptic seizure and a convulsive seizure:

You can also read: First aid for seizures in children

• loss of consciousness may be accompanied by warning signs such as dizziness, ringing in the ears, headache and weakness. However, this condition never occurs during sleep, unlike epilepsy, the attack of which occurs completely unexpectedly. It can occur during movement, even at night when a person is sleeping;
• if the patient loses consciousness as a result of psychological and physical influences, he is able to subsequently talk about them, in contrast to an epileptic attack, the cause of which patients cannot explain. An epileptic attack is always accompanied by involuntary urination, in contrast to ordinary fainting;
• convulsive manifestations vary in form: with the development of fainting, convulsions can be clonic. Muscle contraction and relaxation occurs very quickly. Epileptic fainting is characterized by the development of generalized tonic-clonic forms, in which the muscle group is constrained by a spasm for 3-5 minutes, followed by a transition to the clonic phase.

Most often, fainting is short-lived. In this case, the patient’s consciousness returns within a few seconds, but retardation remains.

Characteristic symptoms of an epileptic attack

Fainting accompanied by convulsions

When a person loses consciousness, the brain does not have enough oxygen. When convulsions appear, the victim’s condition cannot be called normal; the situation becomes much more serious. Brain cells become irritated, causing seizures. This is dangerous because the muscles may contract incorrectly.

First aid

In the case when the patient's unconscious state is accompanied by a seizure, it is recommended to immediately begin providing first aid:

• First of all, you should call a medical team;
• if there is a clear cause of loss of consciousness, measures should be taken to eliminate it;
• The patient should be placed on a horizontal surface with his legs elevated using a pillow or bolster. This position will ensure blood flow to the head and normalize the general condition of the patient;
• to prevent the tongue from sinking and biting, it is necessary to wrap a wooden spoon or any available item in a napkin or thick cloth and place it between the victim’s teeth;
• It is important to ensure that vomiting does not occur, which can lead to asphyxia. To prevent this, you need to put the patient on his side, holding his head.

Algorithm for providing first aid for seizures

A person who is unconscious must be sprinkled with cold water and provided with access to fresh air by unbuttoning his clothes and opening the window, and also allowing him to sniff a swab with ammonia.

Rules for providing first aid during an attack

In this case, you need to proceed as follows:

• Place the person so that his legs are higher than his head. This is necessary to restore blood circulation in the brain.
• It is necessary for the person to lie on his side, the tongue should not sink in, and vomit should not enter the respiratory tract.
• You have to keep your head up because he can hurt himself due to his uncontrolled behavior.
• Open the window, unbutton his clothes so that air can flow to the patient.

Spray with cold water or wipe your face with something damp, a napkin, handkerchief, towel, pat on the cheeks, if anyone present has ammonia, give the victim a sniff.

Prevention

If certain preventive measures are followed, the frequency of fainting can be significantly reduced.

Prevention includes:

• prevention of stressful situations, feelings of hunger and increased fatigue;
• dosed physical activity to avoid overwork;
• hardening procedures;
• normalization of rest and work schedules;
• mandatory night sleep of at least 8 hours;
• You should not suddenly change your body position from horizontal to vertical to prevent orthostatic collapse (loss of consciousness);
• it is important to maintain normal blood vessels and control blood pressure; a sudden change in blood pressure can cause fainting;
• Particular attention to one’s own health must be paid to patients with heart diseases that are accompanied by arrhythmia, since in this case fainting can result in the death of the patient.

It should be noted that in case of a single case of loss of consciousness with convulsions, it is not necessary to go to a medical institution, although you can do this for your own peace of mind. However, if this situation recurs and especially systematic fainting, seeking medical advice is mandatory, as this may indicate signs of serious diseases in the body that require diagnosis.

It is impossible to say with certainty whether fainting conditions are dangerous or not. To do this, you need to find out the nature of the development of this condition. A detailed medical history and consultation with a highly qualified specialist, including a psychotherapist, are of great importance, since quite often the provoking cause of the pathological condition is psychogenic factors.

Consequences

After the incident, it is necessary to figure out what caused the fainting. Find out whether this has happened before and whether this condition occurs regularly. With a single attack, it can be assumed that the condition was caused by external conditions.

But if this is not an isolated incident, a doctor’s consultation is necessary. After undergoing a full examination, the cause will be determined. If found, treatment will be provided. Don't put off questions about your health until later.

If you do not pay attention to fainting, to the main cause, new complications of the underlying disease may appear. First of all, brain activity suffers. Lack of oxygen is harmful to brain cells. The person becomes very irritable. Household abilities suffer. There may also be complications in the form of impaired coordination of movements, deterioration of hearing and speech. Mental illnesses are also common in this context.

Who should I contact? You need to start by visiting: a therapist, a neurologist, a specialist in manual therapy.

State of shock

What causes people to faint when in shock? Shock develops under the influence of a super-strong irritant, leading to disruption of all vital functions. The causes of loss of consciousness due to shock are a serious condition of the body, which is accompanied by severe pain, major blood loss, extensive burns, or a combination of these factors.

Manifestations of shock:

• inhibition of body functions after a short period of excitement;
• indifference and lethargy;
• skin is cold, pale, bluish or gray;
• perspiration;
• breathing is rapid, but shallow;
• weak pulse, acceleration of its frequency;
• vomit;
• pupil dilation.

Over the centuries, epilepsy has had many names: “divine”, “demonic”, “lunar”, “bad”, “black infirmity”, “shaking”, “sorrowful suffering”, “punishment of Christ” and others. Worldwide, about 50 million people suffer from this disease, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Epilepsy is a chronic brain disorder that affects people all over the world. The disease is characterized by recurrent seizures. These seizures occur as brief, involuntary convulsions in one part of the body (partial seizures) or throughout the body (generalized seizures) and are sometimes accompanied by loss of consciousness and loss of bowel or bladder control,” according to a WHO advisory on the subject. disease.

Interestingly, up to 10% of people in the world have ever experienced such a seizure. However, according to doctors, the only case does not mean anything. The disease is diagnosed if attacks recur. Even though epilepsy is one of the oldest recognized conditions in the world, there are still a lot of rumors surrounding it.

“In many countries around the world, people with epilepsy and their families may be subject to stigma and discrimination,” WHO experts confirm.

AiF.ru spoke with Tatyana Batysheva, chief freelance specialist of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation for child rehabilitation, president of the National Association of Experts on Cerebral Palsy and Related Diseases, member of the Presidium of the All-Russian Society of Neurologists, to dispel the 10 most common myths about epilepsy.

By the way, a new series of educational events for patients and their relatives “Attention - epilepsy!”, organized by the Russian Anti-Epileptic League (RPEL) and the Non-Profit Partnership “Association of Epileptologists and Patients”, has started in Russia. The main goal of the project is to improve the health and quality of life of patients suffering from epilepsy, as well as help them adapt to society. In total, more than 400 schools will be held in Russia in 2015. Events for adults and children will be held separately. This is due to the fact that different age groups differ from each other in the characteristics of the course of the disease and the social problems that they have to face.