Good for the elderly
Approximately 5 percent of people will have a seizure within a few weeks after having a stroke , according to the National Stroke Association. You’re more likely to have an acute seizure within 24 hours of a severe stroke , a hemorrhagic stroke , or a stroke that involves the cerebral cortex.
Of the surviving patients, 60 percent who suffered an ischemic stroke and 38 percent with intracerebral hemorrhage survived one year, compared to 31 percent and 24 percent, respectively, after five years. At the end of the study, 29 percent of the stroke patients were still alive .
The most common acquired etiologies of new-onset epilepsy and seizures in the elderly include cerebrovascular diseases, primary neuron degenerative disorders associated with cognitive impairment, intracerebral tumors, and traumatic head injury.
It is described as a late onset seizure , when it occurs after two weeks of stroke onset. Late onset seizure has a peak within 6 to 12 months after the stroke and has a higher recurrence rate of up to 90% in both ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke . 18,19.
A stroke and a seizure are both serious and impact your brain activity. The causes and effects they have on your brain health are different, however. A stroke occurs due to a disruption of blood circulation in the brain. A seizure occurs due to a surge of electrical activity in the brain.
They can regenerate. This process of creating new cells is called neurogenesis. The most rapid recovery usually occurs during the first three to four months after a stroke . However, recovery can continue well into the first and second year as well.
For most patients, recovery from stroke can take six to 12 months of focused, intensive rehab. However, stroke survivors can continue to improve mental, emotional, and physical function even years after starting rehab. Stroke rehab may include speech, occupational, and physical therapy.
With advanced medical testing and treatments, seniors over 80 are having better recovery outcomes than ever before. The ability to recover from a stroke also depends on factors other than age. Seniors who are 80 or older benefit from being surrounded by support that helps them heal .
Most of the spontaneous stroke recovery occurs in the first 3-6 months after the acute neurological event [64–66]. Generally, patients make 70% of their recovery in the first 3 months after a stroke [67–71].
The most common seizure experienced by older adults (66.2%) is the complex partial seizure , which is sometimes called a temporal lobe seizure and is accompanied by impaired consciousness.
Seizures take on many different forms and have a beginning (prodrome and aura), middle (ictal) and end (post-ictal) stage .
Reduction in life expectancy can be up to 2 years for people with a diagnosis of idiopathic/cryptogenic epilepsy , and the reduction can be up to 10 years in people with symptomatic epilepsy . Reductions in life expectancy are highest at the time of diagnosis and diminish with time.
Seizure mimics stroke signs “When someone is having acute neurological symptoms, including a change in mental status and difficulty with speech, there is a very fine line between a seizure and a stroke ,” said Dr. Sachdeva. “ Seizure is one of the most common mimics of stroke .
Stay with the person until the seizure ends and he or she is fully awake. After it ends, help the person sit in a safe place. Once they are alert and able to communicate, tell them what happened in very simple terms. Comfort the person and speak calmly.
A small group of patients, most with mental retardation and diffuse underlying cortical abnormalities, have been reported to have even longer periods—4 to 10 days—of postictal delirium after repetitive seizures [8]. After seizures most patients have “hypoactive” forms of delirium with confusion and withdrawn behavior.