Staring

WHEN TO SEE YOUR DOCTOR

* Someone informs you that you've had a brief staring spell during which you were unresponsive and you have no memory of the episode.

What Your Symptom Is Telling You

It's normal to stare if a Grace Kelly look-alike sits across from you on the bus. Or to have a vacant, out-to-lunch look when daydreaming about winning the lottery. But what if you've just been told that you've had a brief, fixed, blank stare on your face, you didn't respond to your name and worse, you remember zilch about this staring spell?

You could have had a mild type of epileptic seizure, according to Allan Krumholz, M.D., professor of neurology at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. This type of seizure was formerly called petit mal but is now called absence, because people look absentminded, he says.

When a person has an absence seizure, says Dr. Krumholz, they've momentarily lost consciousness because their brain has been taken over by abnormal electrical activity.

Symptom Relief

If this is your first staring episode, it's important to see a doctor to identify the cause and start treatment, says Dr. Krumholz. (For more information about the kinds of things your doctor will consider, see Seizures on page 448.)

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Staring