Neurology and Epilepsy Support Groups Essay

Partial seizures occur when the electrical activity remains in a limited area of the brain. They account for 40% of childhood seizures, consciousness may be intact or slightly impaired. Partial seizures can be categorized as either simple when they are not affecting awareness or memory, or complex when they are affecting awareness or memory of the events before, during, and immediately after the seizure, as well as behavior. Classic symptoms of a simple partial seizure include jerking, muscle rigidity, spasms, head-turning, unusual sensations affecting either vision, hearing, smell, taste or touch, memory or emotional disturbances. Symptoms of a complex partial seizure include lip smacking, hewing, fidgeting, repetitive, involuntary but

underlying cause can be determined. Seizures occur as a result of abrupt, explosive, unorganized discharges of cerebral neurons. This causes a sudden alteration in brain function involving sensory, motor, autonomic and/or psychic clinical manifestations.

When many people think of epilepsy they think of someone falling on the ground shaking and jerking uncontrollably and the thought makes them uncomfortable. Some believe bystanders should put a wooden spoon in the mouth of the one having a seizure and hold them down. These are both misconceptions. Most people think that epilepsy and seizures are the same, this information is also incorrect. Epilepsy is an often misinterpreted disorder. To better understand the disorder and the lives of people with Ep more information and education is needed.

Problems that may occur when a person has seizures are that they will have a mind of a little child, this means that when a person has seizures they do not act like themselves they act like a three or four year old. Even though they maybe a child they will have a younger understanding of things. People with seizures may also have a learning disorder, which is a disorder that people have when they do not understand like school work or they do not understand their level of work, or they can understand but not understand clearly. They can have seizures for a lifelong time. People with seizures can not drive, because they can be driving,have a seizure, and they can be injured bad and that could cause of death. The problems that a person can have when they have seizures can be really serious.

After that night I learned just about everything I could about a seizure because I never wanted to have the feeling of not knowing again. So what is a seizure? A seizure is characterized by a sudden electrical abnormality in the brain (Seizures, 20013). Most seizures last from as little as a few seconds to about two minutes (seizures, 2013). There are multiple types of seizures that a person can have. There are generalized seizures that are characterized by starting to start in all parts of the brain and impossible to pinpoint the origin of the abnormality because of the rapid spread (generalized, 2012). The different types of this include; absence (petit mal) seizures, that is also known as a starring spell and can look like day dreaming; tonic

Types of seizures vary in intensity and effect. Some seizures are hardly noticeable, while others incapacitate the patient. Mild seizures, which can last for a few seconds, do not involve a loss of consciousness, but may change emotions or the way things look, feel, smell, taste, or sound. They may also involve involuntary twitching of an extremity, a leg or arm, and dizziness, a tingling sensation, or flashing lights. More severe seizures can last for a few minutes and involve a loss of awareness or consciousness. Other symptoms include repetitive movement, such as hand rubbing, chewing, blinking, staring, or walking in circles. With tonic-clonic seizures, also known as grand mal seizures, the body initially stiffens briefly, then begins to convulse. The teeth will clench sometimes biting the tongue, causing bleeding from the mouth. There may also be increased salivation causing foaming at the mouth. Additionally, a loss of control of bladder or bowel functions may occur. An epilepsy patient will typically have the same type of seizure, whether mild or severe, so symptoms will be similar from episode to

Seizures are classified into two broad categories primarily generalized and partial seizures. A generalized seizure is characterized by loss of consciousness. There are several sub types of generalized seizure. The first is an absence seizure, this usually consist of brief spells of staring. This type of generalized seizure usually begins in early childhood and diminishes as the child grows older. However, absence seizures may continue until adulthood in some individuals (McKean, 2012). Next, myoclonic seizures are characterized by quick jerking movements. Atonic seizures display a sudden loss of tone and individuals frequently experience injuries related to falls. Generalized tonic clonic seizures display a tonic extension of extremities followed by clonic jerking. There can be variations of this type of seizure activity demonstrating either more tonic motion or clonic (McKean, 2012). Partial seizures initiate when there is an abnormal firing of neurons within the cerebral cortex. This area within the cerebral cortex dictates the symptoms of the seizure activity. A partial seizure can develop into a general seizure if both hemispheres are involved (McKean, 2012). Partial seizures are subdivided into simple and complex. In a complex partial seizure, the individual loses conciseness and has symptoms like lip smacking, staring, picking at clothes, walking around aimlessly. In a simple partial seizure the individual is awake and aware of the episode. The individual may

With ever-increasing cases of pediatric epilepsy, studies detailing the etiology of epilepsy and its association with developmental delay are progressively

Any type of brain disease can cause epilepsy; it also can develop as a result of brain damage from other disorders. For example, brain tumors, alcoholism, and Alzheimer's disease often cause epilepsy because they change the way brain usually works. Strokes, heart attacks, and other conditions that deprive the brain of oxygen also can sometimes cause epilepsy. Other more rare causes of epilepsy are prenatal injuries that come about from poor nutrition or maternal infections; poisoning by lead or carbon monoxide; or overdose of prescription antidepressants or street drugs. There are still many patients for whom the cause of their epilepsy cannot be identified (idiopathic epilepsy).

People uneducated about Epilepsy may have confused thoughts on what it really is. People have these "notions," which are partly or entirely not true. So, throughout this research paper, these notions will be proven untrue, mostly by factual information given by

Epilepsy is caused by irregular brain activity and can develop at any age. Some people are born with a defect in the structure of their brain. Others have had a head injury, tumor, stroke, or an infection causing epilepsy. An epileptic seizure might not occur until years after the injury, but in all cases, a seizure is the

Benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes, BCECT (also called rolandic epilepsy, RE), is an idiopathic focal epilepsy of childhood and its underlying structural causes and possible genetic aetiology are unknown. It is the most common epilepsy syndrome in childhood and accounts for 15%—24% of all paediatric epilepsy cases between 5 and 14 years of age, and there is a male predominance. The prevalence of BCECT is estimated to be about 2% in children and it is four times more common than typical absence of epilepsy. It is considered an age-dependent epileptic syndrome with a high genetic predisposition (Shields and Snead, 2009; Miziara et al., 2012).

The individual may appear to be in a trance and moves randomly with no control over body movements. The individual's activity does not cease during the seizure, but behavior is random and totally unrelated to the individual's surroundings. This form of seizure may be preceded by an aura (a warning sensation characterized by feelings of fear, abdominal discomfort, dizziness, or strange odors and sensations).

Any type of injury related to your brain could cause you to have an epilectic seizure. These could include lack of oxygen during delivery of a baby, injury to the head at any age, injury to the brain caused by stroke.

Epilepsy is a condition in which a person has two or more seizures affecting a variety of mental and physical functions. Epilepsy is one of the oldest conditions of the human race. Epilepsy Awareness is important because Epilepsy is a widely misunderstood disorder. The reason that Epilepsy has been misunderstood has been mainly due to research not being conducted until the middle of the nineteenth century. There are six main types of seizures and many treatments that can assist an epileptic patient. Many facts and myths exist about a person who has Epilepsy, which, is why it is an important disorder to understand. A person living with Epilepsy can typically have a normal life after seeking medical advice from doctors.