Headache and seizures : A case based Discussion

A course aimed at teaching about how to approach patients who present with headache and seizures together.

What should be asked in the history. How should the patients be examined.

Which investigations are useful.

What are the differental diagnosis.

How should the patient be managed.

Seizures can happen for many reasons.

It may be from high levels of salt or sugar in  blood , brain injury from a stroke or head injury brain problems since birth.

Other causes include Dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease, high fever or illnesses or infections that affect the brain.

A seizure is a sudden, uncontrolled burst of electrical activity in the brain.

It can cause changes in behavior, movements, feelings and levels of consciousness.

Having two or more seizures at least 24 hours apart that don't have a known cause is considered to be epilepsy.

A migraine is usually a moderate or severe headache felt as a throbbing pain on 1 side of the head.

Many people also have symptoms such as feeling sick, being sick and increased sensitivity to light or sound.

Migraine is a common health condition, affecting around 1 in every 5 women and around 1 in every 15 men.

The exact cause of migraines is unknown, but they're thought to be the result of abnormal brain activity temporarily affecting nerve signals, chemicals and blood vessels in the brain.

There are several types of migraine, including:

Migraine with aura – where there are specific warning signs just before the migraine begins, such as seeing flashing lights

Migraine without aura – the most common type, where the migraine happens without the specific warning signs

Migraine aura without headache, also known as silent migraine – where an aura or other migraine symptoms are experienced, but a headache does not develop