Hello and welcome to Healthcare Magic. Thanks for your query.

I appreciate your concern for your friend's health condition. The most common indicators of a any stroke are neurological deficits. These defecits can be in the form of motor deficits (i.e. weakness or paralysis), sensory deficits (numbness or abnormal pain sensations), cranial nerve deficits (like speech disturbances, vision disturbances, etc. ), autonomic deficits (like bowel or bladder incontinence) or cognitive deficits (like disorientation, memory loss, inability to recognize faces, etc.)

Sometimes, there may not be obvious weakness or paralysis, but there may be subtle signs which indicate a stroke, like dizziness, slurred speech or difficulty in understanding, confusion, memory loss, severe headache, visual disturbances, difficulty in swallowing, etc.

In your friend's case, there has been a sudden onset of seizures, followed by cognitive deficits such as disorientation, difficulty in understanding / processing information and memory deficits. These symptoms are definitely indicative of a brain pathology or a neurological disorder. Considering her age and acute onset of symptoms, it is likely that the cause is a vascular problem (i.e. a stroke). Sometimes, multiple small emboli (i.e. blood clots) can cause global cognitive eficits like this. This is called a multi-infarct Dementia. But there could be other possibilities also, like a tumour or a meningo-encephalitis (brain infection) or a metabolic abnormality. You friend needs a detailed medical and neurological work up, which should definitely include a brain scan and few other lab tests.

It is unlikely to be Alzheimer's disease, because in Alzheimer's, the onset is gradual and progressive (not so acute as is your friend's case) and moreover, seizures are not characteristic.

Best wishes,

- Dr. Jonas Sundarakumar
Consultant Psychiatrist

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