Epilepsy

Epilepsy means the same as seizure disorder. A person who has epilepsy has seizure. It’s a problem with your brain’s electrical impulses. It can last from a few second to few minutes.

Diagnosing Epilepsy

It is difficult to tell whether you have epilepsy or not. The only time your doctor will diagnose you is when you have had more than one seizure.

What’s a Seizure?

A seizure can change your movement, behavior and feeling for a moment. This is due to the abnormal electrical impulse in the brain. Electrical impulse can relax and tighten your muscles rapidly. This comes suddenly and without warning. A person with epilepsy cannot control their muscles while having seizures. During seizure a person may:

• Fall down
• Shake
• Throw up
• Stiffen
• Urinate
• Lose bowel control

What Causes Epilepsy?

There is actually no specific cause of epilepsy. Doctors don’t know exactly why people get epilepsy. Anything that disturbs the brain’s electrical impulse can bring on this disorder:

• Stroke
• Head injury
• Genes
• Brain infection
• Lack of oxygen
• Brain tumor
• Drug abuse

Who Gets Epilepsy?

Epilepsy and seizure can develop in any person at any age. They are more common in young children and older people. Usually, it begins before age 10 and after 50. In most cases, kids with epilepsy will get better with regular medication as they grow.

Treatment for Epilepsy

Medication

People with epilepsy can control their seizure through medications. The most common epilepsy treatments are the anti-epileptic drugs like:

• Levetiracetam (Keppra) a widely used drug to treat epilepsy
• Gabapentin to treat seizures in children and adult
• Oxcarbazepine to treat partial seizures and epilepsy
• Topiramate to control and prevent seizures in children and adult

If a medicine doesn’t work, your doctor may change the dose or switch you to another drug.

Surgery

Surgery can stop partial seizures. Your doctor will remove a single area of the brain where seizure always begins.

First Aid

Take the following steps in case someone is having seizure:

• Clear the area of anything that can hurt the person.
• Loosen anything at the neck which can affect breathing.
• Turn her onto her side.
• Place something soft under the head.
• Do not place anything inside the mouth.
• Stay calm