Lab Tests for Seizures: Answering the Why and How

Imagine you’re sitting on a bus and seeing someone coming to you with ill intentions. You know you must stop that person, but your body refuses to function. It has become numb and has gone away from your control. Something similar but on a whole different level happens to you when you’re experiencing seizures. It’s a feeling that is a thousand times more unsettling and frightening. It can leave you and your loved ones traumatized more than anyone can imagine. For someone who’s going through this problematic situation, finding the underlying cause for seizures is extremely necessary. Knowing in detail about your seizures can help you find better treatments and management. In your search for answers, laboratory tests can be the greatest weapon in your arsenal. It will help you uncover hidden clues within your body that trigger these seizures. This article will shed light on the different types of seizures, all the tests required to identify the cause, and the steps you must take to treat and manage your seizures. 

Types of Seizures:

Seizures are not just what you see in movies or serials. They simultaneously affect both sides of the brain, disrupting consciousness, movement, and sensation. Seizures are classified based on their characteristics and origin within the brain. Below, we have shared the different types of seizures recognized globally, their explanations, and highlighted their prevalence in India:

• Generalized Seizures:

• Tonic-Clonic Seizures (Grand Mal):
  • Symptoms: Loss of consciousness, muscle stiffening and jerking, tongue biting, and urinary incontinence. 
  • Explanation: Uncontrolled electrical activity spreads throughout the brain, preventing the person from functioning normally. 
  • Prevalence in India: This is one of the most common seizures in India, affecting 40 – 50% of the people with epilepsy.

• Absence Seizures (Petit Mal):
  • Symptoms: Brief lapses in awareness for a few seconds, staring spells where you lose all grasp of reality and forget that you are just staring at nothing, and eyelid fluttering. 
  • Explanation: This type of seizure happens due to abnormal electrical activity in the brain. 
  • Prevalence in India: This type of seizure is more common in children, constituting 10-20% of childhood epilepsy in India. 

• Myoclonic Seizures:
  • Symptoms: These types of seizures can be identified with sudden, brief muscle jerks or twitches, usually in the arms or legs.
  • Explanation: It’s caused by brief and rapid bursts of electrical activity in specific brain areas.
  • Prevalence in India: This one is less common, representing around 5-10% of epilepsy cases in India. 

• Atonic Seizures:
  • Symptoms: If you have a sudden loss of muscle tone and it causes you to have regular falls and injuries, you might be suffering from atonic seizures.
  • Explanation: These types of seizures happen when there’s a brief suppression of electrical activity in the brain.
  • Prevalence in India: Atonic seizures are relatively rare. They constitute less than 5% of epilepsy cases in India. 

• Atypical Absence Seizures:
  • Symptoms: It’s a combination of eyelid fluttering, rhythmic body movements, or confusion, 
  • Explanation: It happens when there are complex patterns of abnormal electrical activity in the brain.
  • Prevalence in India: It is a less common problem in India, amounting to 5% of childhood epilepsy cases in India.

Focal Seizures (Previously Partial Seizures)

These types of seizures originate from a specific area in one side of the brain, causing localized symptoms depending on the affected brain region. It has various types of problems that we have mentioned below for you to better understand and be able to identify the problem.

• Simple Focal Seizures:
  • Symptoms: This type of seizure causes sensor changes (altering visions, smells, or sounds), involuntary movements, emotional changes, and motor disturbances (twitching or weakness), making even simple body function a difficult task.
  • Explanation: Abnormal electrical activity in a specific part of the brain causes these episodes of seizure attacks.
  • Prevalence in India: It’s very common in India, constituting around 20-30% of epilepsy cases in India. 

• Complex Focal Seizures:
  • Symptoms: Impaired awareness during seizures, along with simple focal seizure features or automatisms, are key signs of the problem. You do repetitive movements without realizing it.
  • Explanation: This happens when an abnormal amount of electrical activity spreads through the initial area of the brain, affecting awareness of your body’s movements.
  • Prevalence in India: This type of seizure is common in India, representing 20-30% of epilepsy cases in India. 

• Secondary Generalized Seizures:
  • Symptoms: This one begins as a focal seizure but spreads to involve both sides of the brain, causing generalized seizure features like even loss of consciousness. 
  • Explanation: This happens when the focal seizure evolves into widespread brain activity, hampering its normal function.
  • Prevalence in India: This one’s less common in India, occurring in around 10-15% of epilepsy cases in India.

Is there a particular toolkit to diagnose seizures?

No! Doctors use no single test or toolkit to diagnose the cause and effect of seizures. Instead, there is a chain of tests like:  

• Physical Examination
• Clinical History
• Other Investigations (Family Tree: Anyone in the family has the same problem)

This is where labs step in to diagnose properly, find the right cause of the seizure, and help doctors recommend the best treatment and management solution.

Tests Required to Determine The Type and Cause of Seizures: 

• Complete Blood Count (CBC): This workhorse of blood tests shines a light on the cellular composition of your blood. It can reveal hidden infections, imbalances in blood cell counts (like anemia), and even electrolyte discrepancies, all of which can trigger seizures.

• Prolactin Level Check: Sometimes, the line between true seizures and their non-epileptic mimics can blur. In such instances, the prolactin level check acts as a discerning judge. Elevated prolactin levels after a seizure can be a helpful clue in differentiating epileptic seizures from psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, ensuring the right treatment strategy is adopted.

• Creatine Kinase (CK) Assessment: Muscle breakdown, often a consequence of certain types of seizures, can elevate creatine kinase levels in the blood. This marker acts as a telltale sign of a recent struggle, helping to identify specific seizure types and assess the extent of muscle involvement.

• Genetic Testing: For some, the script of their seizures is written in their genes. In rare cases, specific genetic mutations can predispose individuals to certain types of epilepsy. Unveiling these hidden codes through genetic testing offers insights into the familial roots of the condition and can inform treatment choices and family planning decisions.

Interpreting these laboratory findings is not a black-and-white equation. Normal results do not necessarily rule out a seizure disorder, and abnormal findings need to be evaluated in the context of the individual’s clinical picture. Think of it as deciphering a complex language, where each test result is a word that gains meaning only when woven into the narrative of the patient’s story.

Similarly, no single test stands alone. The true picture emerges from a symphony of investigations, with EEG recordings and brain imaging adding their voices to the diagnostic chorus. It is the careful orchestration of all these elements that allows healthcare professionals to diagnose and manage seizures effectively.

Looking Ahead:

Science, ever the restless explorer, delves deeper into the mysteries of the brain, unearthing new potential biomarkers for seizure diagnosis and prognosis. These emerging players, like neurofilament levels and specific gene expression patterns, hold the promise of even more precise and personalized approaches to managing seizures.

Embracing the Journey:

Laboratory tests, for all their intricate revelations, like in Redcliffe Labs, are but one step in the journey toward understanding and managing seizures. Regular follow-up with our healthcare professionals, adherence to treatment plans, and open communication remain vital cornerstones of success. Remember, knowledge is power, and by embracing the insights gleaned from these diagnostic detectives, individuals, and loved ones can navigate the path toward a brighter future, free from the shadows of uncontrolled seizures.
For accurate check-ups and tests, reach out to any of our Redcliffe Labs branches across India. For immediate booking, visit our website https://redcliffelabs.com/ or call us at 8988988787.