EPILEPSY: An Introduction Epilepsy is a neurological condition that makes people susceptible to seizures. A seizure is a change in sensation, awareness, or behavior brought about by a brief electrical disturbance in the brain. Seizures vary from a momentary disruption of the senses, to short periods of unconsciousness or staring spells, to convulsions. Some people have just one type of seizure. Others have more than one type. Although they look different, all seizures are caused by the same thing: a sudden change in how the cells of the brain send electrical signals to each other. If you have epilepsy, you probably already know that it's not a mental disorder. It can be caused by anything that affects the brain, including tumors and strokes. Sometimes epilepsy is inherited. Often, no cause can be found. Epilepsy is generally not the kind of condition that gets worse with time. Most adults who have it can expect to live a normal life span. Epilepsy is one of the most common disorders of the nervous system. It affects people of all ages, races, and ethnic backgrounds. More than 2.7 million Americans of all ages are living with epilepsy. Every year, 181,000 Americans will develop seizures and epilepsy for the first time. Epilepsy can develop at any time of life, especially in early childhood and old age.
If You Have Epilepsy Epilepsy is what you have, not what you are. You are not an "epileptic." You are a person with epilepsy. Epilepsy is part of your life. It is not your whole life. Other people may think that having epilepsy makes you different in some obvious way. But that's their mistake. Given the chance, you can probably live, work, and function in the world just as well as anyone else. However, there are many areas of life in which having epilepsy can cause special difficulties. Knowing more about them may make it easier to cope. If you have had epilepsy since childhood, you may be concerned about what it's going to mean to you as an adult. With the best of intentions, your parents may have protected you too well from the outside world. You may wonder now how you are going to make the change from being dependent on them to living on your own. Doing so may take some extra effort on your part.
Treatment Plans Most epilepsy medicines are taken by mouth. The doctor's choice of which drug to prescribe depends on what kind of seizure a person is having. People react to medicines in different ways. Some experience side effects, others may not. Some people's seizures will respond well to a particular drug while someone else will have seizures that continue. It may take some time to find exactly the right dose of the right drug for each person with epilepsy. Find out more about treatment by medication. Vagus nerve stimulation is a type of treatment in which short bursts of electrical energy are directed into the brain via the vagus nerve, a large nerve in the neck. The energy comes from a battery, about the size of a silver dollar, which is surgically implanted under the skin, usually on the chest. Leads are threaded under the skin and attached to the vagus nerve in the same procedure. The physician programs the device to deliver small electrical stimulation bursts every few minutes. This is a relatively new type of treatment. It may be tried when other treatment is not effective. Just how it works to prevent seizures is being studied. Learn more about VNS. Surgical removal of seizure-producing areas of the brain has been an accepted form of treatment for over 50 years when medicines fail to prevent seizures. However, because of new surgical techniques and new ways of identifying areas to be removed, more of these operations are being done now than ever before, and with greater success. Surgery can be performed on both children and adults. However, it is not a suitable treatment for everyone who has epilepsy, or for everyone with poor seizure control. Find out more about epilepsy surgery. The ketogenic diet, which is very high in fats and low in carbohydrates, was first developed almost 80 years ago. It makes the body burn fat for energy instead of glucose. When carefully monitored by a medical team familiar with its use, the diet helps two out of three children who are tried on it and may prevent seizures completely in one out of three. It is a strict diet, and takes a strong commitment from the whole family. The ketogenic diet is not a do-it-yourself diet. It is a serious form of treatment that, like other therapies for epilepsy, has some side effects that have to be watched for. More research is being done to learn about the underlying reasons for the diet's positive effect. Find out more about the ketogenic diet.