DEFINITION Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disease that causes seizures periodically. The disease is caused by abnormal brain cell activity. Symptoms of seizures that appears varies. Some people with epilepsy when seizures have a blank.
Mild seizures require treatment, because it can be dangerous if there is when doing activities like driving or swimming. Treatment - including medical treatment and sometimes surgery - usually successfully eliminate or reduce the frequency and intensity of seizures. Many children with epilepsy can overcome this condition with age.
SYMPTOMS
Because epilepsy is caused by abnormal activity of brain cells, seizures can affect your brain coordination process. Convulsions can result in:
- Temporary confusion
- Uncontrolled jerking movements of the hands and feet
- Total loss of consciousness
Doctors classify seizures are partial or general, based on how the abnormal brain activity begins. In some cases, seizures can be initiated by partial and later became general.
Partial seizures (partial)
When seizures arise as a result of abnormal brain activity in one part of the brain, scientists call it partial seizures or partial. Seizures of this type consists of two categories.
- Simple partial seizures (simple partial seizures). These seizures do not result in loss of consciousness. These seizures may be changing emotions or change the way look, smell, feel, taste, or hear. These seizures can also produce the beat of the body by accident, like an arm or leg, and sensory symptoms such as spontaneous tingling, vertigo and flashes of light.
- Complex partial seizures (complex partial seizures). These seizures produce changes in consciousness, it is because you lose vigilance for some time.
Seizures involving all parts of the brain called the general convulsions. Four types of general convulsions are:
- Absence seizures (also called petit mal). These seizures have characterized by subtle body movements and striking, and can cause loss of consciousness briefly.
- Myoclonic seizures. These seizures usually cause buffeting or sudden twitch of the hands and feet.
- Atonic seizures. Also known as drop attacks, these seizures cause loss of alignment with the muscles and the sudden collapse and fall.
- Tonic-clonic seizures (also called grand mal). The spasms that have the most frequent intensity. Characterized by loss of consciousness, stiff and trembling, and loss of bladder control.
Cause
- Genetic influences. Some types of epilepsy decreased in the family, make it like there is a genetic linkage.
- Trauma to the head. Car accident or other injury can cause epilepsy.
- Medical illness. Stroke or heart attack that produces damage to the brain can also cause epilepsy. Stroke is the main cause of epilepsy in the incidence of people aged over 65 years.
- Dementia. Cause of epilepsy in the elderly.
- Injury before birth. Fetal brain vulnerable to damage due to infection in the mother, lack of nutrients or oxygen deficiency. This can lead to cerebral palsy in children. Twenty percent of seizures in children associated with cerebral palsy or abnormal neurological.
- Progression of the disease. Epilepsy may be associated with the development of other diseases, such as autism and Down syndrome.
Factors that may increase the risk of epilepsy are:
- Of age. Epilepsy usually occurs in early age children and after the age of 65 years, but similar conditions can occur at any age.
- Sexes. Men more at risk than women with epilepsy.
- Family records. If you have epilepsy in the family records, you may have an increased risk of seizures.
- Head injuries. These injuries are responsible for many cases of epilepsy. You can reduce the risk by always using a seat belt when driving and using a helmet when riding a motorcycle, skiing, biking or doing other activities that risk head injury.
- Stroke and other vascular diseases. It can cause brain damage that triggers epilepsy. You can take some steps to reduce the risk of these diseases, including the limit for consuming alcohol and avoid smoking, eat a healthy diet and always exercising.
- Infection of the brain. Infections such as meningitis, cause inflammation of the brain or spine and lead to increased risk of developing epilepsy.
- Prolonged seizures at the time the children. High fever at the time the kids for a long time is sometimes associated with convulsions for a long time, and epilepsy in the future. Especially for those with a family history of epilepsy.