info on epilepsy

just for me, no one freak out.

About Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a neurological condition that makes people susceptible to seizures. A seizure is a change in sensation, awareness, or behavior brought about by a brief electrical disturbance in the brain.

Seizures vary from a momentary disruption of the senses, to short periods of unconsciousness or staring spells, to convulsions. Some people have just one type of seizure. Others have more than one type.

Although they look different, all seizures are caused by the same thing: a sudden change in how the cells of the brain send electrical signals to each other.

If you have epilepsy, you probably already know that it’s not a mental disorder. It can be caused by anything that affects the brain, including tumors and strokes. Sometimes epilepsy is inherited. Often, no cause can be found.

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.

Doctors treat epilepsy primarily with seizure-preventing medicines. Although seizure medications are not a cure, they control seizures in the majority of people with epilepsy.

Surgery, diet (primarily in children), or electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve, a large nerve leading into the brain, may be options if medications fail to control seizures. Several drugs (called antiepileptic or anticonvulsant drugs) are prescribed to prevent seizures. Many factors are involved in choosing the right seizure drug. The goal of treatment is to stop seizures without side effects from the medicines.

If you are being treated with antiepileptic drugs, you may need blood tests from time to time, but it is important to remember that drug levels cannot tell how you feel or how many seizures you have had. Achieving the best seizure control possible depends on your taking the same amount of the medicine every day in the manner prescribed by your doctor. However, epilepsy can affect many aspects of life besides the need to take a certain number of pills on time.

If You Have Epilepsy

Epilepsy is what you have, not what you are. You are not an “epileptic.” You are a person with epilepsy. Epilepsy is part of your life. It is not your whole life.

Other people may think that having epilepsy makes you different in some obvious way. But that’s their mistake. Given the chance, you can probably live, work, and function in the world just as well as anyone else.

However, there are many areas of life in which having epilepsy can cause special difficulties. Knowing more about them may make it easier to cope.

If you have had epilepsy since childhood, you may be concerned about what it’s going to mean to you as an adult. With the best of intentions, your parents may have protected you too well from the outside world. You may wonder now how you are going to make the change from being dependent on them to living on your own. Doing so may take some extra effort on your part.

If you have frequent seizures, you may feel you have to live at home. But there may be other living arrangements to help you live independently. To find out what’s available in your area, contact your local Epilepsy Foundation.

If you have recently developed epilepsy, you may wonder how much your plans for the future will have to be changed. Perhaps no changes will be required. Or perhaps you will have to re-think some of your plans, at least until your treatment has had a chance to work and your seizure control becomes stable.

Epilepsy is one of the most common disorders of the nervous system.

Epilepsy affects people of all ages, races, and ethnic backgrounds.
More than 2.5 million Americans of all ages are living with epilepsy.
Every year, 181,000 Americans will develop seizures and epilepsy for the first time.
The condition can develop at any time of life, especially in early childhood and old age.

Terminology

The term “seizure” is widely used to describe an abnormal spasm or convulsion, generated by excessive electrical activity in the brain. Older terms, such as fits, spells, or falling out, may still be used by the general public in some communities.

In the medical community, the Latin word “ictus” may be used to describe a seizure. Related terms are used to define events associated with a seizure. Using this lexicon, “ictus” refers to the seizure itself; “ictal” defines the period in which the seizure occurs; “pre-ictal” and “post-ictal” describe periods before and after the seizure; while inter-ictal refers to the period between seizures. Thus, when an EEG reading, for example, is described as “inter-ictal,” it means that it was recorded between seizures.

Seizures are epileptic events and having seizures is the defining characteristic of epilepsy.

Epilepsy is from the Greek word epilambabein, meaning to seize or to attack. Epilepsy has been recognized as a unique disorder for thousands of years, and references to its symptoms occur through the ages, from Babylonian tablets to the Bible.

First Aid for Generalized Tonic Clonic (Grand Mal) Seizures
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tonic clonic seizure

A generalized tonic clonic seizure.
Here the whole brain is affecting from the beginning.
In (a) there is a cry and loss of consciousness,
arms flex up then extend in (b) and remain rigid (the tonic phase)

for a few seconds. A series of jerking movements

take place (the clonic phase) as muscles contract and relax

together. In (c) the jerking is slowing down and

will eventually stop. In (d) the man has been placed

on his side to aid breathing and to keep the airway clear.

During a generalized tonic-clonic seizure, the person suddenly falls to the ground and has a convulsive seizure. It is essential to protect him or her from injury. Cradle the head or place something soft under it, a towel or your hand, for example. Remove all dangerous objects. A bystander can do nothing to prevent or terminate an attack. At the end of the seizure, make sure the mouth is cleared of food and saliva by turning the person on his or her side to provide an open airway and allow fluids to drain. If the person assisting remains calm, the person having the seizure will be reassured when he or she regains consciousness.

Breathing almost always resumes spontaneously after a convulsive seizure. Failure to resume breathing signals a complication of the seizure such as a blocked airway, heart attack or severe head or neck injury. In these unusual circumstances, CPR must start immediately. If repeated seizures occur, or if a single seizure lasts longer than five minutes, the person should be taken to a medical facility immediately. Prolonged or repeated seizures may suggest <A id=CP___PAGEID=4254,statusepilepticus.cfm,71| href="http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/answe

rplace/Medical/seizures/types/statusEpilepticus/statusepilepticus.cfm”>status epilepticus (nonstop seizures), which requires emergency medical treatment.

When providing seizure first aid for generalized tonic clonic (grand mal) seizures, these are the key things to remember:

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Keep calm and reassure other people who may be nearby.
Don’t hold the person down or try to stop his movements.
Time the seizure with your watch.
Clear the area around the person of anything hard or sharp.
Loosen ties or anything around the neck that may make breathing difficult.
Put something flat and soft, like a folded jacket, under the head.
Turn him or her gently onto one side. This will help keep the airway clear. Do not try to force the mouth open with any hard implement or with fingers. It is not true that a person having a seizure can swallow his tongue. Efforts to hold the tongue down can injure teeth or jaw.
Don’t attempt artificial respiration except in the unlikely event that a person does not start breathing again after the seizure has stopped.
Stay with the person until the seizure ends naturally.
Be friendly and reassuring as consciousness returns.
Offer to call a taxi, friend or relative to help the person get home if he seems confused or unable to get home by himself.

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Is an Emergency Room Visit Needed?
class=pullquoter style=”WIDTH: 250px”>When these conditions exist, immediate medical attention is necessary:

Diabetes
Brain infections
Heat exhaustion
Pregnancy
Poisoning
Hypoglycemia
High fever
Head injury

An uncomplicated generalized tonic clonic (grand mal) seizure in someone who has epilepsy is not a medical emergency, even though it looks like one. It stops naturally after a few minutes without ill effects. The average person is able to continue about his business after a rest period, and may need only limited assistance, or no assistance at all, in getting home. In other circumstances, an ambulance should be called.

No Need to Call an Ambulance

if medical I.D. jewelry or card says “epilepsy,” and
if the seizure ends in under five minutes, and
if consciousness returns without further incident, and
if there are no signs of injury, physical distress, or pregnancy.

An Ambulance Should Be Called

if the seizure has happened in water.
if there’s no medical I.D., and no way of knowing whether the seizure is caused by epilepsy.
if the person is pregnant, injured, or diabetic.
if the seizure continues for more than five minutes.
if a second seizure starts shortly after the first has ended.
if consciousness does not start to return after the shaking has stopped.

If the ambulance arrives after consciousness has returned, the person should be asked whether the seizure was associated with epilepsy and whether emergency room care is wanted.

See now, she’s diabetic and not diagnosed as having epilepssy, so we should be calling 911 every time. I knew I wasn’t over reacting.