What Is Childhood Absence Epilepsy?

Grand mal, or tonic-clonic, seizures are characterized by a total lack of muscular control, followed by muscular spasms that continue until consciousness is regained. A more rare condition called childhood absence epilepsy (CAE) effects no more than eight percent of all epilepsy patients. These "petit mal" seizures are marked by staring into space, fluttering eyes, and light jerking motions in the arms, which all indicate a very brief period of unconsciousness.

Some epilepsy patients suffer both kinds of seizures, the frequency of which can be severely reduced with medication. Others, both children and adults, may only experience absence seizures. The latter camp, however, is closely observed for life, since childhood absence epilepsy can signal the eventual onset of tonic-clonic seizures.

Those who have childhood absence epilepsy often are kept from normal activities such as driving and swimming, since these seizures can happen at any time. Aside from the lack of focus and light movements of the arms, hands and eyelids, absence seizures can cause the lips or cheeks to spasm. Sufferers will not fall but merely cease to do anything except lightly flutter. These subtle symptoms make it hard to diagnose this genetic disorder.

Childhood absence epilepsy can appear between the ages of four and 20 years old, but it usually manifests before the age of eight, according to Epilepsy Therapy Project. About 70 percent of these types of seizures, however, occur between the ages of nine and 13. Boys and girls are equally susceptible.

Anti-seizure medications called valproate, lamotrigine and ethosuximide are regularly, and often concurrently, prescribed to treat this disorder, often. These are also known as Depakote®, Lamictal® and Zarontin®, respectively. According to the Mayo Clinic, drug therapy ends seizures in about 65 percent of childhood absence epilepsy sufferers before adolescence is over. Some adults, however, continue to suffer from absence seizures their entire life.

When children are found to be daydreaming excessively in class, doctors may first attempt to eliminate absence seizures as a cause before moving on to more common conditions like attention deficit disorder. About 10 percent of those experiencing these types of seizures will progress to the more noticeable grand mal seizures.

Though the causes of CAE are unclear, a genetic predisposition has been identified. Both the petit and grand mal varieties of seizures are created by improperly functioning nerve activity in the brain, resulting in a "shorting out" of the brain's natural electrical impulses. Some who experience seizures have been found to display a shortage of needed neurotransmitters responsible for uninterrupted brain activity.