A doctor has warned of the risk of epilepsy attacks due to flashing garlands

Flashing Christmas tree lights can provoke an epileptic seizure, as well as a migraine. Ekaterina Demyanovskaya, a neurologist and expert physician at Gemotest Laboratory, told Izvestia on December 23 about the health risks of Christmas tree lights.

"Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases. People with this diagnosis have excessive activity of certain groups of neurons - nerve cells in the brain. Due to excessive activity, the muscles receive chaotic signals. As a result, an epileptic seizure can occur - there are episodes of involuntary muscle contractions or freezing, loss of consciousness is also characteristic," Demyanovskaya explained.

According to her, it is possible to trigger a seizure even in those who have never experienced them before, and there are many different triggers. These include loud sounds, rhythms of music, specific color combinations and the flickering of bright lights.

Also, in addition to an epileptic seizure, the flashing of Christmas tree lights can trigger a migraine. This is one of the most severe types of headache, it can last from several hours to several days. And all this time a person will experience an excruciating throbbing headache on one side of the head. Many compare it to feeling as if the head is splitting apart.

"To protect yourself and loved ones from unexpected New Year's health problems, you should buy only certified garlands: they use high-quality LEDs that are calibrated for brightness and color. It is better to choose garlands with warm yellow light and put them in the mode of static lighting," - summarized Demyanova.

Earlier, on December 1, the doctor-neurologist of the medical company "SberZdorovye" Polina Lepilova told "Izvestia" about five non-obvious reasons to consult a specialist of this profile.According to her, visual disturbances, such as flickering, flashes of light or loss of field of vision, should also be a reason to consult a doctor-neurologist. These manifestations are often precursors to a migraine attack.