Tomorrow,
August 21, 2017, there will be a solar eclipse visible in the United States. It
will be very exciting! A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is in line with the
Earth and sun and casts a shadow over the Earth. There are four types: total,
partial, annular, and hybrid (combination between annular and total). Each has
its own characteristics depending on the position of the moon in relation to
the sun and Earth. Because of the
upcoming solar eclipse, I have been thinking about nocturnal seizures.
According
to EpilepsyAction Australia, there is a strong correlation between epilepsy and
the sleep/wake cycle. Seizures most often occur between different sleep cycles
or the time from sleep and waking when the electrical activity in the brain is
in flux. There are five stages of sleep:
(1)
Sleep-onset—drowsiness,
light sleep, when you start to fall asleep. This stage is usually short.
(2)
Light
sleep—Brain activity and heart rate slow down.
(3)
Deep
sleep starts—Further slowing of brain activity and heart rate. Short bursts of
faster brain energy may occur. If woken up suddenly, you would feel groggy and
confused.
(4)
Deep
sleep—Deepest sleep. Mainly slow wave activity in the brain. It is difficult to
wake someone up in this stage.
(5)
REM
(Rapid Eye Movement) sleep—active sleep, dreaming. Blood flow, breathing, and
heart rate increase; muscles in a paralysis-like state.
Seizures
usually occur in Non-REM sleep, most often in light sleep. They can also happen
when you wake up in the middle of the night.
The other common time for nocturnal seizures is within one or two hours
of waking up. It makes sense that seizures would happen during non-REM sleep as
well as waking up from sleep because the brain is in the process of changing
its cycle. Whenever there is any kind of change in electrical activity, that is
grounds enough for a possible seizure.
There
are some epilepsy syndromes that are characterized by nocturnal seizures. Some
of these include Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy, Awakening Tonic-Clonic, Landau-Kleffner
Syndrome, Benign Rolandic Syndrome, Electric Status Epilepticus of Sleep, and Frontal
Onset Seizures.
For
people with epilepsy, a good night’s sleep is especially important. If you are having seizures at night, however,
it is almost impossible to get fully rested. As a result, you are more likely
to have more seizures during the day as well. Still, there are some steps you
can take to sleep better and lower your risk of seizures. I have listed some here:
1.
Go
to sleep at the same time every night; get enough sleep per night.
2.
Follow
a regular routine.
3.
Exercise
every day.
4.
Do
not overexcite yourself in the evening.
5.
Try
to avoid sleeping pills. They may worsen the situation.
Be
safe and sleep well.
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