Epilepsy | HealthInfi

Overview

In a healthy brain, nerve cells communicate with each other through electrical impulses that work together to control the body. But when those cells, called neurons, misfire or signal abnormally, a person can experience a number of sensations, emotions, behaviors, convulsions, muscle spasms and even loss of consciousness. Any or all of those symptoms may be seizures. If a person has more than one unprovoked seizure, she may be suffering from epilepsy. An individual is considered to have epilepsy when seizures recur over a period of time without an obvious provoking reason, such as alcohol withdrawal, low blood sugar or electrolyte imbalances in the blood.

Epilepsy can be successfully treated with antiepileptic medication or, in selected cases, surgical removal of the brain region that generates seizures. In some patients it can spontaneously disappear.

The symptoms of epilepsy are complex. A seizure can be as subtle as staring off into space for a few moments, as if daydreaming. Other types of seizures cause more dramatic symptoms, including uncontrollable movements, loss of consciousness, stiffening, jerking and loss of some bodily functions, among other symptoms. These symptoms can be as brief as a few seconds or as long as several minutes. According to the Epilepsy Foundation and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 200,000 Americans will learn that they have epilepsy this year, and more than 3 million are currently living with the disorder. About one in 100 adults have active epilepsy, and more than one-third are not getting sufficient treatment. Men are at a slightly higher risk to develop epilepsy in childhood, but in adulthood the incidence of epilepsy is equal among men and women. The CDC estimates that this neurological disease costs approximately $15.5 billion annually in medical costs and lost or reduced earnings and production.

Epilepsy is a chronic disorder, the hallmark of which is recurrent, unprovoked seizures. Many people with epilepsy have more than one type of seizure and may have other symptoms of neurological problems as well.

Sometimes EEG testing, clinical history, family history and outlook are similar among a group of people with epilepsy. In these situations, their condition can be defined as a specific epilepsy syndrome. The human brain is the source of human epilepsy. Although the symptoms of a seizure may affect any part of the body, the electrical events that produce the symptoms occur in the brain. The location of that event, how it spreads and how much of the brain is affected, and how long it lasts all have profound effects. These factors determine the character of a seizure and its impact on the individual. Esssentially, anything the brain can do, it can do in the form of a seizure. A person is diagnosed with epilepsy if they have one or more seizures that were not caused by some known and reversible medical condition like alcohol withdrawal or extremely low blood sugar. The seizures in epilepsy may be related to a brain injury or a family tendency, but often the cause is completely unknown. The word “epilepsy” does not indicate anything about the cause of the person’s seizures or their severity.

Having seizures and epilepsy can affect one’s safety, relationships, work, driving and so much more. Public perception and treatment of people with epilepsy are often bigger problems than actual seizures.

Epilepsy is not contagious and is not caused by mental illness or retardation. But for most people who suffer from this chronic condition, the stigma associated with it is enormous and affects just about every aspect of life. Family life, driving, employment, social interactions and self-image are just a few lifestyle considerations that confront people with epilepsy. Just the fear of having a seizure produces tremendous ongoinganxiety for some people—a burden for even those whose seizures are generally well controlled with medication.

There is no single cause of epilepsy, and in many cases, no known cause is ever found. Conditions that can lead to epilepsy include:

• injury to the brain before, during or after birth or in adulthood
• infections that damage the brain
• toxic substances that affect the brain
• injury and lack of oxygen to the brain
• disturbance in blood circulation to the brain (stroke and other vascular problems)
• metabolism or nutritional imbalance
• tumors of the brain
• genetic or hereditary abnormalities
• high fever (known as febrile seizures)
• other degenerative diseases such as dementia
• malformation of the brain

Seizures can be triggered by a variety of things, such as failure to take seizure-controlling medication as prescribed, lack of sleep, alcohol consumption or hormonal changes associated with the menstrual cycle. Failure to take medication (called noncompliance by physicians) is the most common trigger.Read More