Little Known Links Between Tsunamis And Seizures

The devastating effects of the tsunami that occurred on March 11th 2011 in Japan have manifested themselves in a number of ways. One aspect that is often forgotten is the effect that the tsunami has had on emotional wellness. Those in the Japanese fishing community who were witness to the natural disaster will always be affected, but their wellbeing may also have suffered as a consequence.

Reports show that during the weeks that followed the disaster, the number of seizures amongst the community significantly increased. Published in the journal Epilepsia, a recent study showed looked at the records of 440 patients who were admitted to Kesennuma City Hospital following the tsunami, that was caused by the 9 magnitude earthquake.

Of these, 13 were admitted to the hospital suffering from seizures during the eight week period after the disaster. This was particularly interesting because only one of these 13 had ever suffered from seizures in the past, showing that the remaining 12 were experiencing this type of medical problem for the first time in their lives – indicating some link with the tsunami.

Previous research has shown that those who experience an extremely stressful or life-threatening natural disaster are at an increased risk of experiencing a seizure, but the exact data for this was not evident; now this new study changes all that.

Experiencing a traumatic event, however, is not the sole cause of seizures, but may perhaps form some sort of trigger. Most of the patients who experienced a seizure were found to have some type of underlying neurological condition.

During the study, the team compared medical records for the eight week period following the tsunami with the same eight weeks in previous years, and found that the incidences of seizures were significantly raised following the tsunami.