What is Epilepsy?
Epilepsy, more commonly known as seizure disorder is a neurological disorder, affecting people of all age groups. Main symptoms of epilepsy include recurrent and unprovoked attacks of seizures. If not diagnosed and treated in time, Epilepsy can lead to serious complications.
The source of epilepsy is the electrical circuits in the brain. Abnormal electrical events in the brain can cause seizures of different kinds. Epilepsy can occur due to multiple reasons including complications during birth of the baby, brain injury, stroke, brain tumours, brain infections, and abnormal development of brain can be the main cause for epilepsy, although the exact reason may remain unknown in many of the cases. Epilepsy can sometimes be related to genetic factors as well.
Symptoms
The main symptom of epilepsy is recurrent seizures, but there are other signs and symptoms that may hint at epilepsy. These are:
- Abnormal twitching of one side of the body
- Briefly unresponsive behaviours.
- Sudden unexplained stiffening.
- Sudden chewing or blinking.
- Repetitive body movement that appears abnormal.
- A sudden fall for no reason
- Any repetitive confusional state
- Brief abnormal movements during sleep
- Sudden jerking of hands with dropping of objects
Causes
There can be various causes that can lead to epilepsy:
Brain injury causing scar in the brain
Brain infections
Brain tumor
Stroke or any bleeding in the brain
Brain abnormality by birth
Brain injury during delivery of the baby
Genetic factors in some cases
Risks
The main risk factors are:
Head injury.
High fever or seizures during childhood.
Old Stroke.
Brain infections.
It is more common during early childhood and after the age of 60.
Alcohol related
Drug addiction
Prevention
Certain points can be taken care of to prevent the occurrence of epilepsy seizures:
- Manage your stress levels.
- Get proper sleep.
- Adhere to safety rules so as to minimise injury to head.
- Eat a healthy diet.
- Avoid drugs and alcohol.
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How is it diagnosed?
EEG (electroencephalogram) test
Electroencephalography is a very important investigation in epilepsy. It involves recording of electrical activity of the brain by putting electrodes over the head. A good quality EEG is very crucial to make a proper diagnosis.
Video EEG
The additional advantage of video EEG is to record the seizures. In this case, the person with epilepsy is admitted and medicines are stopped with a plan to record seizure. This helps in diagnosing the type of epilepsy and the area of the brain responsible. It helps in planning treatment including epilepsy surgery
MRI brain (Epilepsy Protocol)
MRI helps in detecting abnormal point of the brain responsible for epilepsy. A good quality MRI is very important diagnostic tool for epilepsy