Monday, September 19, 2011

what happens during a seizure

While attending the U of M football game against New Mexico State I suddenly became intrigued as to what happens and what causes a seizure when U of M head coach Jerry Kill collapsed and had a seizure following a controversial call with 20 seconds left in a close game during a hot Saturday afternoon. The article (http://seizures.nicheinfo.info/Seizures_What_Causes_Them.php) seizures: what causes them, was just the info I needed to come to my conclusion. After reading this article I learned that what needs to happen in order for a seizure to occur is an irregular discharge of electrical impulses. With even a single irregular discharge the net of neurons connected to that single irregular impulse would also be affected. Although on medications for seizures Jerry Kill was dehydrated and most likely yelling after the blown call which was enough to trigger the seizure that followed. The article states that a lack of oxygen or any metabolic irregularities such as a change in chemical levels can be causes of a seizure. The dehydration would be enough to turn his blood slightly acidic and changed the amount of chemicals entering his brain and the blown call on top of that was enough to cause that sudden irregular impulse in his brain leading to the cascading effect of a seizure.

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