Because of the fact that the immune system in children is still under development at their tender ages, it is easy for a parent to get overtly worried about some of the slightest medical complications that may affect their children. However, it is always better to be cautious when it comes to medical conditions affecting young children as simply ignoring the condition could possibly see it spiral out of control. The term seizure will always ring alarm bells in anyone’s head as it is usually associated with a critical error being experienced by the body. As a result, a number of parents would ask themselves the question ‘what is a febrile seizure?’ when they are informed that their child is either suffering from or at a significant risk of suffering from one. Before getting into the details of exactly what a febrile seizure is, having a basic understanding of how seizures occur will help you grasp what happens at the time much better. A seizure will generally occur in the event that the brain becomes irritated and what is medically termed as an ‘electrical storm’ occurs in the body. This electrical storm will develop because the connections between the cells in the brain are not able to function appropriately – thereby causing the brain to shut down and restart itself. When this shut down of the brain occurs, it will send out electrical signals to all the muscles in the body – causing them to contract, Suffering from a mild seizure is not considered to be a medical priority, it will be need to looked into by a professional specialist in the event that it becomes a frequent occurrence as well as more intense. Studies have shown that almost 4% of all the individuals in the world are likely to experience a seizure at one point or the other during the course of their lifetimes.
While most other seizures can have a host of causing factors, febrile seizures are caused primarily by the development of a very high fever in a child. Some of the most common febrile seizure symptoms include a stiffening of the entire body, a jerking movement in the arms and legs as well as the eyes appearing to e very deviated, rolling back as well as moving back and forth. The patient is also likely to experience tightness in the jaw and mouth. Having a basic understanding of the various febrile seizure symptoms is very important because of the fact that the condition is rather common with the most recent reports showing that one in almost every 25 children are likely to suffer from a febrile seizure before they outgrow what is considered to be the age group that is most commonly affected. Very rarely would a child experience his or her first febrile seizure before the 6th month or even after the 3rd year. The medical community puts a lot of faith in the theory that the older a child is when he or she experiences the first febrile seizure, the less likely he or she is to experience another one. One of the most important questions is whether febrile seizures in toddlers will, in any way, pose any kind of danger to the child. While the instance can be rather frightening, especially to the child’s parents, most febrile seizures are seen to be harmless in the long run and is not considered to translate to translate directly to febrile seizures in adults. As much as between 95 and 98 percent of all children that have experienced a febrile seizure as a child are unlikely to on to develop epilepsy.