Patient's question:
My sister has a boy who is now seven years old and is in the first grade of elementary school. For the past one and a half months, the family has noticed something is a bit off with the child. Mainly, he often has nightmares when taking naps at night, and sometimes during the day, his hands and feet will twitch slightly. We suspect that the symptoms of the child might be similar to epilepsy because we cannot draw a conclusion. Currently, we haven't had him thoroughly examined at the hospital. We wanted to ask doctors here first if our speculation is reasonable. Please advise.Doctor's answer:
Hello. Mild childhood epilepsy can manifest as recurring episodes of unfocused gaze and vacant stares, which may last for 5-10 seconds. In some cases, a child's movement may suddenly stop. In severe cases, childhood epilepsy can cause sudden loss of consciousness, pauses in breathing, limb convulsions, clenched fists, upward rolling of the eyes or black pupils deviating to one side, bluish complexion, foaming at the mouth, and often accompanied by tongue bites and urinary incontinence. The symptoms you described are not yet typical, so it is recommended to visit a hospital for a thorough examination.