Autism and seizures

Pediatrician Jerry Kartzinel, MD, discusses the high epileptic rate amongst children with autism and the types of seizures that children with autism are most likely to have
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Autism and seizures

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One of the hardest things to watch with a special needs child, or any child for that fact, is a seizure; where they're on the ground, they're shaking, they're convulsing, and parent just feels so out of control and does not know what to do at this point. They've heard things like the child could swallow his tongue or he's going to lose brain cells. But why do our kids have seizures in the first place? Why in autism is there a 30% epileptic rate? And we don't know yet, we don't know. The studies just haven't been done to try to figure out why. All I know is we have a problem, we have to look for the problem, we have to prepare the parents for the eventuality that their child may have an epileptic episode and what to do in that case. When the children have seizures, there are different types. One of them is an absence seizure where they're with you kind of and then all of a sudden the eyes gaze off, and then you lose them for a few seconds and then they come back, maybe 7 - 10 seconds. Those are called absence seizures; the old term is petit mal, and that can be treated. Another kind of seizure is the one that most people associate with epilepsy, is being on the ground and the arms and legs are convulsing. And in that situation, a neurologist has to be involved. And there are treatments for it, and we can talk about that another time.

Pediatrician Jerry Kartzinel, MD, discusses the high epileptic rate amongst children with autism and the types of seizures that children with autism are most likely to have

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Jerry Kartzinel, MD

Pediatrician

Dr. Jerry Kartzinel is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He specializes in the recovery of neurodevelopmental, chronic neuro-inflammatory diseases, and hormonal dysfunctions. After receiving his medical degree at St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his residency in pediatric medicine in the Air Force. Following Desert Storm, Dr. Kartzinel practiced general pediatrics in private practice for 10 years until his fourth boy was diagnosed with Autism.

A nationally recognized speaker and New York Times Best Selling Author, Dr. Kartzinel has presented medical interventions that work to improve the lives of his patients who suffer from many types of medical conditions that include: autism, allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic constipation, chronic diarrhea, sleep cycle disruptions, and hormonal imbalances. He regularly teaches Continuing Medical Educations courses on children's health issues to physicians and other health professionals.

His clinical approach is to treat the whole patient by carefully obtaining a full and complete history and based on this history, obtaining very detailed laboratory evaluations. Individualized plans are implemented integrating the very latest medical interventions that include both traditional and complimentary medicine approaches.

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Transcription: 
One of the hardest things to watch with a special needs child, or any child for that fact, is a seizure; where they're on the ground, they're shaking, they're convulsing, and parent just feels so out of control and does not know what to do at this point. They've heard things like the child could swallow his tongue or he's going to lose brain cells. But why do our kids have seizures in the first place? Why in autism is there a 30% epileptic rate? And we don't know yet, we don't know. The studies just haven't been done to try to figure out why. All I know is we have a problem, we have to look for the problem, we have to prepare the parents for the eventuality that their child may have an epileptic episode and what to do in that case. When the children have seizures, there are different types. One of them is an absence seizure where they're with you kind of and then all of a sudden the eyes gaze off, and then you lose them for a few seconds and then they come back, maybe 7 - 10 seconds. Those are called absence seizures; the old term is petit mal, and that can be treated. Another kind of seizure is the one that most people associate with epilepsy, is being on the ground and the arms and legs are convulsing. And in that situation, a neurologist has to be involved. And there are treatments for it, and we can talk about that another time.