INFORMATION ON EPILEPSY

Epilepsy is a neurological condition that starts in the brain or a type of brain disorder in which clusters of neurons or nerve cells, in the brain sometimes produce abnormal signals. When this happens, a person may suddenly have a seizure. Many people will have a single seizure at some time in their lives, but this does not mean that they have epilepsy. If a person has epilepsy it means they have had more than one seizure that began in the brain. In epilepsy, the normal functioning of neurons becomes disturbed, causing strange emotions, sensations, and muscle spasms, loss of consciousness and behavior or sometimes convulsions. Epilepsy is generally not the kind of condition that gets worse with time. Most adults who have it can expect to live a normal life span.

SYNONYMS OF EPILEPSY

Synonyms and related keywords:
1. Psychomotor Equivalent Epilepsy.
2. Myoclonic Progressice Familial Epilepsy.
3. Psychomotor Convulsion.
4. Petit Mal Variant.
5. Major Epilepsy.

CAUSES OF EPILEPSY

Basic causes of Epilepsy
1. Brain injury.
2. Brain tumor.
3. Brain infection.
4. Brain hemorrhage.
5. Meningitis.
6. Encephalitis.
7. Hypoglycemia.
8. Childbirth trauma.
9. Certain poisons.

SYMPTOMS OF EPILEPSY

Signs and symptoms of Epilepsy
1. Convulsions.
2. Muscle spasms.
3. Loss of consciousness.
4. Grand mal seizures.
5. Petit mal seizures.
6. Strange sensations.
7. Strange emotions.
8. Strange behavior.


Symptoms of temporal lobe epilepsy
1. Sudden behavior changes.
2. Unusual behavior.
3. Aggression.
4. Agitation.
5. Symptoms of focal epilepsy.
6. Localized muscle spasm.
7. Whole body muscle spasm.
8. Twitches.
9. Tics.
10. Hallucinations.
11. No loss of consciousness


Symptoms of a prodrome for convulsions:
1. Changed hearing.
2. Visual disturbances.
3. Smell sensations.
4. Mood changes.
5. Muscle pain.
6. Muscle tremor.

DIAGNOSIS OF EPILEPSY

Much of the diagnosis of epilepsy is based on finding out what happened just before, during and after the seizure. The neurologists might arrange for some tests to be done. These tests may give extra information about the seizures. Some tests may be able to say why the person has epilepsy. Other test may include: Blood test may be done by taking a blood sample from arm Electrocardiogram test may be done. An Electroencephalograms is used to record the electrical activity of the brain by picking up the electrical signals from the brain cells. Brain scans - sometimes called 'brain imaging' - may be used to help find the cause of someone's seizures

TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY

Brain surgery - Brain surgery for epilepsy is performed, but only in a small percentage of cases, and only when all Anticonvulsant medications used to reduce the frequency and/or intensity of seizures.

1. Phenytoin.
2. Primidone.
3. Methoin.
4. Clonazepam.
5. Sodium valproate.
6. Carbamazepine.

Other treatments fail to adequately control seizures are:
1. Lifestyle changes.
2. Avoid alcohol.
3. Avoid driving.

Doctors keep working with the others to help them achieve the best possible quality of life measured not by the number of seizures but by how close they come to achieving their own individual aims.