Amongst the many diseases that grips people is the epilepsy. Even though patients with epilepsy may lead a normal life, still their life can be in danger if the unexpected epilepsy seizure occurs. Epilepsy is a medical disorder in which the patient suddenly becomes unconscious, sometimes accompanied by violent body movements which can be a threat to your mental health.

 What are seizures?

 A seizure is an epilepsy attack which directly affects the patient’s brain. The cause of seizure is not clearly known and it could be related to brain injury or family tendency. The epileptic seizures can happen anytime and at any place.

 If a person has a brain injury, the seizures do not take place immediately. Seizures could happen after many months of the head injury. This could significantly affect your mental health. There are no proper evidence is through this but the scientists are working to find out the reasons.

 Who can develop epilepsy?

 Epilepsy can be of genetic origin but sometimes its origin is unknown. A person of any age can develop epilepsy. However, children and adolescents are most likely to get epilepsy. They may develop rate in their first year of life. The new cases of epilepsy gradually start declining till the child reaches about ten years of age.

 The epilepsy rate again starts going up in the people of age 55 or 60. In this age, people may develop strokes, brain tumors or Alzheimer’s disease which can cause epilepsy.  

 What causes epilepsy?

 It is difficult to find the exact causes of epilepsy. However, some of the possible causes could be: 

• Children may have a defect in their brain since birth
• They may have suffered a head injury or an infection

 In adolescents, severe head injury is most the familiar cause of epilepsy. In people of middle age, some of the causes of epilepsy are strokes, tumors, and other injuries.

 Stroke and Alzheimer’s disease are the most common known causes in the people over 65 years of age.

 How is epilepsy diagnosed?

 It is very important to accurately diagnose epilepsy because it may be mistaken for some other disease. You will need to tell your doctor about your and family members’ medical history, your physical and mental health and about your lifestyle. They might need to perform any tests in order to diagnose your epileptic condition. The most common of the tests is the ECG which is otherwise called as electroencephalograph.

 Brain imaging is another popular diagnostic test. It is mostly used with children or in adults who have seizures for the first time. If a person has at least two seizures which are not linked with known medical condition like low blood sugar or alcohol withdrawal, the person will need to be diagnosed for epilepsy. Blood test also determines epilepsy in children.

 Is epilepsy genetic?

 It is true that there is a high risk genetic tendency of epilepsy and seizures. If the child faces primary generalized seizures (the epilepsy in which the seizures start from both sides of the brain at the same time) there are chances of epilepsy occurrence in its siblings.

 Only about 4% to 10% of the other children in the family are likely to have epilepsy. It also depends upon the kind of epilepsy and number of epilepsy affected members in the family. The risk for children to acquire epilepsy is a little more than 2% if only their father had epilepsy. The risk is less than 5% if only the mother has epilepsy.

 The risk becomes higher if both the parents have epilepsy.

 What is the treatment of epilepsy?

 The most practicable and general methods for treating epilepsy are anti-epileptic treatment and surgeries. It is pertinent to mention that both these methods are not curative. The epileptic patients should take the prescribed medication regularly. It will help them to control the seizures. The patient needs to undergo regular check-ups. When the medication does not help, surgery is the next option.

 The surgeries have shown good results with the epileptic people who are prone to strokes, blood vessel defects, and brain tumors. Moreover, you must pay close attention to your improve your lifestyle and keep your mental health in good condition.

All you wanted to know about epilepsy is a post from: Mental Health