Epilepsy

A disorder that occurs when groups of neurons in the brain send out abnormal electrical signals.  These can result in odd sensations, emotional or behavioral disturbances, muscle spasms, seizures, or loss of consciousness.  It can be caused by abnormal development, traumatic brain damage, altered neurotransmitter concentrations, or illness.  It is usually diagnosed by EEG and brain scans.  There are various types of epilepsy.  Absence epilepsy, also called Petit Mal, causes momentary lapses of consciousness, or brief blackouts.  This often begins in childhood.  The child may simply stare into space, jerk an arm, or rapidly blink eyes.   This condition often stops at puberty, but may develop into a more serious form of epilepsy.  Psychomotor epilepsy, also known as recurrent partial seizure, originates in the temporal lobe of the brain.  It is characterized by the person seeming to be in a daze, and making strange or purposeless movements called automatisms.  They last just a few seconds.   Temporal lobe epilepsy is a common form which begins in childhood.  An aura, or warning sensation, may accompany this type of seizure.  Early treatment of this type of epilepsy is critical, as repeated TLE seizures may cause the hippocampus in the brain to shrink, causing memory and learning problems.  Frontal lobe epilepsy involves a cluster of short seizures with sudden onset and termination.  Symptoms depend on where in the frontal lobe the seizures occur.  Occipital lobe epilepsy usually begins with visual hallucinations, rapid eye blinking, and other eye related symptoms.  It may also be accompanied by an aura.  Parietal lobe epilepsy begins in the parietal lobe, but spreads to the other parts of the brain.  Lennox-Gastaut  syndrome is a type of severe epilepsy that begins in childhood and is difficult to treat.  It is characterized by sudden attacks resulting in falls.  Rasmussen’s encephalitis begins inchildhood, and is a progressive condition.  Half of the brain shows continual inflammation.  It is treated with a radical surgery called hemispherectomy.  Ramsay Hunt syndrome II is a rare and progressive type of epilepsy that begins in early adulthood and leads to reduced muscle coordination and cognitive ability.  Infantile spasms is a type of epilepsy that begins in infancy with clusters of seizures before the age of 6 months.  The infant may bend or cry out during an attack.  Status epilepticus is a complication of epilepsy which is severe and life threatening condition where the person has prolonged seizures for over 5 minutes or does not fully regain consciousness between seizures. Treatment for epilepsy includes medication to control symptoms, and occasionally surgery.  Note—a lone seizure is not a sign of epilepsy.  High fever, narcolepsy, Tourette’s syndrome, cardiac arrhythmia, and eclampsia can also cause a seizure.  See also seizures