Patient's question:
My child suffers from primary epilepsy. Seeing him having seizures, with his eyes rolling back and foaming at the mouth, is truly frightening. Could this affect his intellectual development?Doctor's answer:
Hello, if a seizure itself is very brief and is effectively controlled with medication, it will not affect a child's intelligence. However, once seizures recur frequently, especially if they enter a state of status epilepticus, where the brain experiences prolonged hypoxia and more neurons are damaged, this may then affect intelligence. In some cases, children may become less intelligent not due to the treatment medication, but rather as a result of prolonged seizures.