EPILEPSY: What You Need To Know About This Disorder?

Here are the things that you must know about epilepsy

EPILEPSY – These pieces of information are very important in understanding this kind of condition.

This disorder happens in the central nervous system (neurological). The brain activities became abnormal and that leads to seizures or periods of unusual behavior, sensations, and sometimes loss of awareness, according to the article from Mayo Clinic.

The seizure can vary from one person to another. In some cases, the person just stares blankly for a few seconds during a seizure. On the other hand, there are also times that a person will repeatedly twitch the arms or legs. Everyone should take note that experiencing a seizure once could immediately mean it is epilepsy.

epilepsy — Photo courtesy of Sleep Review

However, anyone can develop this disorder and it does not choose whether you are a man or a woman. Neither it chooses a race, ethnic background nor age.

SYMPTOMS

Temporary confusion
A staring spell
Uncontrollable jerking movements of the arms and legs
Loss of consciousness or awareness
Psychic symptoms such as fear, anxiety or deja vu

TYPES

Focal Seizure happens when abnormal activity in just one area of your brain. This is classified into two categories:

Focal seizures without loss of consciousness

don’t cause a loss of consciousness
alters emotions or change the way things look, smell, feel, taste or sound
involuntary jerking of a body part, such as an arm or leg
spontaneous sensory symptoms such as tingling, dizziness and flashing lights

Focal seizures with impaired awareness

change or loss of consciousness or awareness
stare into space and not respond normally to the environment
perform repetitive movements, such as hand rubbing, chewing, swallowing or walking in circles

Generalized seizure happens when all areas of the brain are involved while experiencing the disorder. Here are the classifications:

Absence seizures

often occur in children
characterized by staring into space or subtle body movements such as eye blinking or lip-smacking
may occur in clusters
cause a brief loss of awareness

Tonic seizures

cause stiffening of your muscles
affect muscles in your back, arms, and legs
may cause you to fall to the ground

Atonic seizures

cause a loss of muscle control
may cause you to suddenly collapse or fall down

Clonic seizures

associated with repeated or rhythmic, jerking muscle movements
usually affect the neck, face, and arms

Myoclonic seizures

usually appear as sudden brief jerks or twitches of your arms and legs

Tonic-clonic seizures

most dramatic type of epileptic seizure
can cause an abrupt loss of consciousness, body stiffening and shaking
sometimes it causes loss of bladder control or biting your tongue

CAUSES

Genetic influence
This condition runs in families. According to researchers, they have found that some types of epilepsy are linked to specific genes. Certain genes may make a person more vulnerable to factor that will trigger seizures.

Head trauma
The trauma in the head due to a car accident or other traumatic injury can cause epilepsy.

Brain conditions
Brain tumors or stroke (the leading cause of epilepsy in adults older than 35) can cause this disorder.

Infectious diseases
Meningitis, AIDS and viral encephalitis are among the infectious diseases that can cause this disorder.

Prenatal injury
Babies are sensitive to brain damage before they are born. It can be a result of several factors, such as an infection in the mother, poor nutrition or oxygen deficiencies. This can lead to epilepsy or cerebral palsy.

Developmental disorders
This condition may become a result of developmental disorders, such as autism and neurofibromatosis.

Here are the vital pieces of information, based on the article, that one should take note on when to seek the help of a doctor: