Laura Bennett was working from home one morning in November 2022 when she started to feel slightly off-colour — tired, struggling to concentrate and feeling a bit detached from the world around her.
'I remember nothing of it but apparently Matt dashed upstairs and got the shock of his life finding me collapsed on the floor,' says Laura. Read More DR MARTIN SCURR: The surprising causes of pins and needles in your hands - and what to do about them Laura was rushed to hospital and underwent an electroencephalogram — a scan of the brain's electrical activity — to be told she had adult-onset epilepsy and would probably need to take anti-seizure medicines daily for the rest of her life.
Ms Fremantle was initially charged with dangerous driving but was last week cleared after medical checks confirmed she had epilepsy. It was her first seizure and she had no way of knowing she was a risk. It's characterised by bursts of uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain which prevent nerve cells there from signalling to each other properly — triggering seizures where everything from muscle control to senses such as taste and smell go completely haywire for a few minutes.
Other approaches include implanting a small electrical device inside the body and wiring it up to the brain to interrupt the chaotic signals between nerve cells, or following a ketogenic diet — low in carbohydrates and high in protein and fat — which is thought to reduce the 'excitability' of nerve cells and can halve the number of episodes.In many adult cases — like Laura's — it's completely random.
The theory is that depleted oxygen levels, caused by repeated breathing interruptions, have a damaging effect on the brain's wiring — making epileptic seizures more likely.Obesity is a major risk factor for sleep apnoea; extra fat around the neck puts pressure on the airways when lying down. Another sign of a seizure is freezing — coming to a complete standstill for several minutes while remaining aware of what's going on around you , or a 'rising' feeling of fear or excitement in the stomach, as if riding a roller-coaster.
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