Get your top questions about epilepsy answered
Posted April 24, 2022 by By Marvin Rossi, MD, Ph.D
Epilepsy is more common than you might think. It’s estimated 3.4 million adults and children in this country are living with epilepsy, with about 150,000 new cases diagnosed each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that leads to disturbances in the brain’s electrical activity, causing repeated seizures. These seizures occur when the nerve cells fire more rapidly and with less control than usual.
Seizures can range from simple partial seizures, where a person briefly loses conscious activity, to focal or complex partial seizures, where a person is unresponsive and stares blankly, to the most generalized seizure that affects the entire brain. A person having a generalized seizure may fully lose consciousness and may fall, shake aggressively and have difficulty breathing. After a seizure, you may have no memory of it happening.
If you or a loved one was recently diagnosed with epilepsy, you probably have a lot of questions and concerns. Seizures can be scary and can get in the way of your life, especially if they continue to occur without a pattern.
While there is no cure for epilepsy, you can take comfort in knowing the disorder can be managed successfully with early diagnosis and proper treatment. Summa Health answers your most pressing questions about epilepsy so you can get back to living a happy, healthy and full life.
What do seizures look like?
Seizures don’t always look how you envision them: falling to the ground, shaking uncontrollably and being unconscious of what’s going on around you. In fact, there are many types of seizures, and ones that look like that are actually not the most common.
More often, a person having a seizure may seem confused, stare into space, make unusual movements or even be unable to speak.
Symptoms vary greatly depending on the type of seizure, but typical symptoms can include:
- Alterations in sense of taste, smell, sight, hearing and touch
- Temporary confusion
- Staring blankly
- Repetitive movements, such as lip smacking
- Uncontrollable jerking movements in the arms and legs
- Loss of muscle control and uncontrollable shaking
- Loss of consciousness or awareness
What triggers a seizure?
You may be able to identify patterns that trigger seizures. A few of the most common triggers include:
- Lack of sleep
- Illness or fever
- Stress
- Bright or flashing lights
- Caffeine, alcohol or medications
- Skipping meals or overeating
Keeping a seizure journal is a good way to look for patterns and identify triggers so you can avoid them.
What causes epilepsy?
A variety of conditions that affect a person’s brain can cause epilepsy. In most cases, however, the cause cannot be determined.
Genetic factors or structural brain abnormalities that run in families can cause symptoms to begin in infancy. In addition, certain conditions, such as brain tumors or vascular malformations, traumatic brain injuries, stroke, certain infections such as meningitis or HIV, and some birth defects, can cause epilepsy.
How is epilepsy diagnosed?
Epilepsy can develop at any age. A person is diagnosed with epilepsy if they experience two or more unprovoked seizures separated by at least 24 hours or after one seizure with a high risk for more.
Epilepsy is typically diagnosed with a comprehensive medical history and an EEG, or electroencephalogram, to record brain wave patterns during and between seizures. Your doctor may also order an MRI or blood tests to rule out other potential causes of seizures, such as a brain tumor.
How is epilepsy treated?
The first line of treatment for epilepsy is antiseizure prescription medications to help reduce the frequency and severity of seizures. For most patients, these drugs help keep seizures under control or even eliminate them altogether.
For other patients, brain surgery may be an option. In particular, epilepsy surgery may benefit patients whose seizures are associated with structural brain abnormalities, such as brain tumors, malformations of blood vessels or damage related to strokes.
A procedure known as vagus nerve stimulation can help prevent seizures by sending mild electrical pulses to the brain by an implanted device, similar to a pacemaker.
In other cases, diet changes, such as a ketogenic diet, can help reduce seizures.
Can I live a healthy, normal life with epilepsy?
Yes. Most epilepsy patients are expected to go into remission, or five or more years free of seizures while using medication. From there, about 75 percent of those patients can be successfully withdrawn from medication. Children with epilepsy can grow out of the condition.
Epilepsy can affect many aspects of your life, but there’s no need to suffer. The right treatment can result in dramatic improvements in your condition and quality of life.
About the Author
Vitality eNews Sign Up
Receive the Summa Health eNewsletter for the latest health tips, advice and updates.
Related Blogs
Strokes are very common, with one occurring every 40 seconds United States. A stroke is a medical emergency requiring immediate attention – the longer symptoms are left untreated, the more damage a stroke can cause. Since fast care is necessary, knowing the signs and symptoms is essential so you can help someone get the care they need right away.
BE FAST and dial 911: Recognize the SUDDEN symptoms of a stroke.
- Balance: Did the person suddenly lose balance?
- Eye: Has the…
It may come as a surprise, but seizures are actually a common condition. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 out of 10 people may have a seizure during their lifetime. With stats like that, you may one day find that you need to help someone during or after a seizure.
Witnessing a person having a seizure can be a truly scary event, but following general first-aid guidelines can help you provide the right care to keep a person safe.
Seizures…
When you’re having a stroke, every minute counts. Fast treatment can lessen the brain damage that strokes can cause and improve survival rates, while lowering disability rates. In fact, many of the most effective treatments are only available if the stroke is diagnosed within three hours of symptoms.
A stroke is a serious medical condition that occurs when the blood supply to any region of the brain is reduced or blocked completely. Strokes are the No. 5 cause of death…
From a car accident to a sports injury to an unfortunate fall to domestic violence or child abuse, all of these horrific scenarios can result in traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs. Head injuries can happen to anyone, at any age, and can damage the brain.
A TBI occurs when a sudden bump, blow or jolt to the head causes the brain to bounce or twist in the skull, injuring brain cells, breaking blood vessels, even creating chemical changes. It also can happen with a penetrating…
Where is my phone? Did someone take my keys from their hook? We all forget things at one time or another. That’s why Find My iPhone and Bluetooth key finders exist on the market.
But if you find yourself worried about these or other similar instances of forgetfulness or memory loss, you’re not alone. Subtle changes in memory occur naturally as part of the aging process.
In fact, about 40 percent of people in this country age 65 and older deal with the mildest form &…
Dr. Marvin Rossi leads a discussion on epilepsy, covering symptoms, treatment, as well as new practices in care.
Every 65 seconds someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. It’s the most common cause of dementia and accounts for 60 to 80 percent of cases. Sadly, it is the country’s sixth leading cause of death.
Although the risk of Alzheimer’s disease increases with age, it is not a normal part of aging. Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease that involves the progressive deterioration, or…
Listen to this episode of the Healthy Vitals Podcast featuring Susana Bowling, MD, FAHA, FNCS.
These brain and nerve disorders can include:
• Congenital problems such as hydrocephalus and scoliosis
• Trauma such as head injuries and vertebral fractures
• Tumors and cysts of the brain and spine…
We’ve all been there at one time or another: Throbbing pain between the temples and pressure behind the eyes so great that we have to take a time out and lie down. It’s the all-too-familiar headache, right? Not so fast.
When there is pain and pressure in your head, it can be difficult to tell whether it’s a headache or a migraine.
When people think of a migraine, they typically think of the most severe headache. But headaches are only one symptom of a…
It’s estimated there are 5 million Americans aged 65 and older living with Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. In addition, the Parkinson’s Foundation states there’s about 1 million people who suffer from the disease in this country, with more than 60,000 patients being newly diagnosed each year.
Neurodegenerative…
Alzheimer’s disease causes problems with memory, thinking and other cognitive behaviors. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation out…
According to the CDC, someone in the US has a stroke every 40 seconds. Those patients who receive emergency care greatly increase their rate of survival and shorten recovery time. A stroke occurs when blood supply is reduced or cut off from the brain, and that root cause is sometimes due to a blood clot.
When a patient comes in and is diagnosed with a stroke, medications can be administered intravenously to break up and restore blood flow back to the brain. However, this…
In May, we celebrate Stroke Awareness Month. Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death, and the leading cause of adult disability. A stroke occurs when part of the brain does not get blood flow. A blood clot can block a blood vessel or artery, or a blood vessel can break. When this occurs, brain cells die quickly. When the cells die, the body loses control of the abilities that area of the brain once controlled.