The nations eyes have turned to the story of U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson, who has been charged with striking two different cars multiple times with his Lexus, within the time span of a couple of minutes, in Southern California this past Saturday afternoon.
After hitting the first vehicle, Los Angeles law enforcement said Bryson proceeded to get out of his car to speak with the other cars occupants. But as he was leaving the scene, Bryson allegedly hit their car yet again and then hit a second vehicle a few minutes later. Bryson was later found unconscious in his car and was admitted to a hospital where he was treated for "non-life threatening injuries." According to police, there was no evidence that alcohol or drugs were involved in the incident.
A spokesperson for the Commerce Department revealed in a statement Monday that Bryson had apparently suffered a seizure while driving this weekend. The official also said that Bryson has since been released and was given medication for the seizure.
While it was not clear whether or not Brysons episode caused the accidents, one expert believes that its entirely possible that a seizure could be responsible and that Bryson may be showing early signs of epilepsy.
Its possible he could have been appearing somewhat normal and still be a little bit confused, Dr. Cynthia Harden, director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Care Center at the Cushing Neuroscience Institute in Manhasset, NY, told FoxNews.com. He could have been confused between seizures, and maybe the people he talked to really didnt pick up on it. Of course, this is all speculation, but they need to talk to those people and see exactly what they said. Its all about focusing on the details.
According to Harden, 68-year-old Bryson could be at risk for developing epilepsy a brain disorder that causes repeated seizures or convulsions over the course of a persons life.
There are two peaks of the onset of epilepsy, Harden said. One is in childhood below age ten, then theres another peak of onset epilepsy at age 65 which is an even greater prevalence than onset in childhood.
Epilepsy is much more common than is generally thought, Harden added. It occurs in almost one percent of the population, meaning one out of every 100 people has epilepsy. But the big picture is that about half are very well controlled with medication. So its a relatively silent illness.
If it is established that Bryson did in fact suffer from a seizure, the next step, according to Harden, is to determine what exactly caused it. She maintained that an episode of this kind could be indicative of an even larger issue.
When theres a new diagnosis, the important thing is to get a brain image to rule out any structural cause of the illness such as a stroke or brain tumor, Harden said. About half the time, that image is normal and we dont have a known cause. But theres a greater chance that there may be a cause of epilepsy in the mature population. But even with his age group, they may not know the cause of his epilepsy.
Originally posted here:
Doctor: Commerce Secretary's seizure could be early sign of epilepsy