Hillary Clinton’s health has once again become a hot topic of conversation and speculation in response to a video of the Democratic presidential nominee seeming to have a seizure on camera.
In the footage, Clinton appears to pass the strange occurrence off as a joke, because she laughs before seeming to seize a few more times. She then attempts to blame the “cold Chai” for the bizarre episode.
In late 2012, Hillary fainted and hit her head, which resulted in a concussion. During a follow-up appointment to the concussion, doctors detected a blood clot in Mrs. Clinton’s brain, which required the immediate assistance of anticoagulants (blood thinners) to remedy.
The New York Times reported on the specifics of Clinton’s condition following her release from the hospital in early 2013.
“Mrs. Clinton’s blood clot formed in a large vein along the side of her head, behind her right ear, between the brain and the skull. The vein, called the right transverse sinus, has a matching vessel on the left side. These veins drain blood from the brain; blockages can cause strokes or brain hemorrhages.”
Known medically as Intracranial Venous Thrombosis, the condition is dangerous and even life-threatening if left untreated. The prognosis for this condition is mostly positive, though not completely without risks , according to the website, Patient .
“Long-term follow-up suggests a generally good prognosis but there may be residual pyramidal symptoms, epilepsy, visual field defects and depression.”
Epilepsy is an ailment characterized by spontaneous, uncontrolled seizures. According to the website epilepsy.com , the disease is anything but predictable . It can affect a multitude of different kinds of people and is often the influencer of additional health issues.
Could Hillary Clinton be suffering from an epileptic disorder as a result of the blood clot caused by her concussion?
It’s not as far-fetched as it may sound.
According to WebMD , a head injury and blood clot in the brain are possible causes of acquiring epilepsy , both of which have happened to Hillary.
Seizures can be brief or long in nature, the person having the seizure may be aware of it or may not and memory of the seizure may or may not be present afterwards.
“Seizures are the only visible symptom of epilepsy. There are different kinds of seizures, and symptoms of each type can affect people differently. Seizures typically last from a few seconds to a few minutes. You may be alert during the seizure or lose consciousness. You may not remember what happened during the seizure or may not even realize you had a seizure.”
There are several potential causes of epileptic seizures, among them sleep deprivation and stress, both of which Clinton is no doubt currently plagued with.
There is also some speculation that a lot of things happening at once, such as multiple journalists speaking to you simultaneously, could act as a trigger. Could this be why Hillary waited until August to give her first press conference of 2016?
“Some people’s seizures are tied very closely with their sleep. They may have all of their seizures while sleeping, when falling asleep or waking up. For others, sleep may not be a common trigger, or the association is less clear. For example not getting enough sleep may trigger seizures only when other triggers are going on too.”
There is no significant evidence to explain why stress acts as a trigger for seizures, and there is also no absolute evidence as to if less stress means less seizures, but there appears to be a correlation between the two.
“While there is no definite evidence that reducing stress help seizures, a recent study showed that nearly nine in 10 people who actively managed their stress believed it reduced their risk of seizures.”
There’s no way one can say for sure that Hillary Clinton had a seizure on camera, let alone that she has epilepsy, but dots from the past and present can be connected to suggest these things may be a possibility, and it’s not drastic to assume that the blood clot in her brain may have caused some kind of brain damage.
Hillary Clinton’s health can be speculated upon to an enormous degree, and all of our guesses may be completely false, but one thing is for certain. The video shows Clinton doing something way out of the ordinary and her attempt to play it off as a joke may have fooled some, but it’s not going to fool all Americans. People are now asking questions, as they should. She is, after all, running to become the next leader of our nation.
What do you believe took place when this bizarre incident occurred?
[Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images]