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Absence seizures are one of several kinds of seizures. These seizures are sometimes referred to as petit mal seizures (from the French for “little illness”, a term dating from the late 1700s [1]).
In absence seizures, the person may appear to be staring into space with or without jerking or twitching movements of the eye muscles. These periods last for seconds, or even tens of seconds. Those experiencing absence seizures sometimes move from one location to another without any purpose. Under normal circumstances thalamocortical oscillations maintain normal consciousness of an individual, however in certain circumstances the normal pattern can become disrupted; thereby leading to an episode of absence. Drugs, such as ethosuximide work by binding to t-type Ca2+ channels on thalamic neurones to modify these oscillations and prevent these episodes from occurring.
Absence seizures may occur in several forms of epilepsy. Absence epilepsy refers to epilepsy in which the only seizures are absence seizures. Absence epilepsy is often characterized by age of onset, e.g., childhood absence epilepsy for epilepsy beginning in childhood between the ages of 4 and 12. Absence epilepsy has also been termed pyknolepsy (from the Greek “pyknos”, meaning closely packed, dense, or aggregated) and was commonly used in early 20th century German psychiatry[2]
Epilepsy is the most common cause of recurrent seizures[citation needed], where seizures are single events that reoccur with seemingly random frequency. Single seizures can be caused by blows to the head, fever (febrile seizure), reactions to medications, tumours, or as a symptom of a larger disease, among other causes.
Just as there are many different kinds of seizures, there are many different kinds of epilepsy. Doctors have identified hundreds of different epilepsy syndromes – disorders characterized by a specific set of symptoms that include epilepsy. Some of these syndromes appear to be hereditary. For other syndromes, the cause is unknown. Epilepsy syndromes are frequently described by their symptoms or by where in the brain they originate. People should discuss the implications of their type of epilepsy with their doctors to understand the full range of symptoms, the possible treatments, and the prognosis.
Some people with absence epilepsy report seeing flashing or blinking lights in the corner of one or both eyes, possibly followed by a ‘flash vision change’, shortly before they slip into a seizure[citation needed]. Some have purposeless movements during their seizures, such as a jerking arm or rapidly blinking eyes[3]. Others have no outwardly noticeable symptoms except for brief times when they are “spaced out”, as repeated absence seizures can cause momentary lapses of consciousness. Immediately after a seizure, the person will usually resume whatever he or she was doing prior to its onset.
These seizures can happen a few times a day or in some cases hundreds of times a day, to the point that the person cannot concentrate in school or other situations requiring sustained, concentrated attention. Childhood absence epilepsy may stop when the child reaches puberty. Absence seizures usually have no lasting effect on intelligence or other brain function.[citation needed]
It is well known that bright lights, nervous, stressful, uncomfortable situations, or other strong sensory stimuli may trigger seizures.[citation needed] Hyperventilation is also a common trigger. However, loud noises can help to either bring a person back to consciousness or keep him or her conscious.[citation needed] Reciting one’s name can be very helpful in an emergency as can repetitively asking the victim to “stay with you”.[citation needed] Such can be accomplished by counting methods, alphabets and so on.[4]
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