What is a Focal Sensory Seizure?
A focal sensory seizure is a seizure that begins with a sensation, felt by the individual affected by the seizure. Generally, the seizure is not obvious to anyone watching.
The sensations that may occur at the start of this type of seizure include flashing, or flickering lights and colors,or the appearance of shapes and simple patterns in front of a person’s eyes.
Signs of this kind of seizure include muscle contractions, contractions on one side of the body, unusual head or eye movements, pain in or from the abdomen, an increased and rapid heart rate or pulse, and numbness or tingling of the skin.
Understanding nervous system-related symptoms and features.
Symptoms may affect multiple parts of the body. Understanding which part of the body a symptom affects, can help us to better understand the potential underlying causes of a symptom, including a rare disease or genetic syndrome.
The nervous system is made up of a network of nerves and cells that carry messages to and from both the brain and the spinal cord. Within the nervous system are the Central nervous system and the Peripheral nervous system.
The brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system.
Within the peripheral nervous system are the somatic and autonomic nervous systems. The somatic system controls responses to sensory stimuli, while the autonomic nervous system controls the inner workings of organs, including digestion, breathing and the heartbeat.
Sleep is one body function, controlled by the autonomic nervous system, specifically the sympathetic nervous system.
What should I do next?
In some instances, focal sensory seizures may be one of the features of a rare disease or genetic syndrome. To find out if someone with Focal Sensory Seizure, may be due to a genetic syndrome, it is important to have a consultation and evaluation with a clinical genetic specialist. Specialists may also suggest specific genetic testing or other types of tests to help reach a diagnosis. FDNA’s AI technology can help speed up the diagnostic process by analyzing facial features and other health information.