Pyrotechnic Shows Could Trigger Seizures

July 4, 2008— -- It started with a migraine, not even five minutes after the fireworks show began. Damon Thorne tried to look away but the entire sky was lit up. "Even closing my eyes -- I could still see the fireworks through my eyelids," he says.

Then, his right hand began to quiver. Little points of light, much like the "stars" that compose a firework's bloom, panned across his field of view. This was Thorne's "aura," visible only to him, and a warning sign that a seizure was about to happen.

"Next thing I remember, I was waking up in the hospital," says Thorne, who has epilepsy. "Come to find out I had some massive grand mal seizure."

The incident at the St. Louis County Fair and Air Show in 2006 would become the first indication to Thorne that his epilepsy appeared to be sensitive to the barrage of light that accompanies a professional pyrotechnics display.

While it's an uncommon experience, there are reports like Thorne's of fireworks triggering seizures in susceptible people. And some neurologists think it's worth noting, especially for parents with children who might not have had their first seizure yet.

Seizures affect more than 3 million people in the United States, according to the Epilepsy Foundation of America. The seizures typically come about when groups of nerve cells in the brain fire abnormally, setting off a range of symptoms from behavior changes to muscle spasms and loss of consciousness. When someone has a pattern of repeated seizures, they are usually diagnosed with epilepsy.