Epilepsy Treatment

Introduction

Epilepsy is a brain-related condition. Patients experience seizures due to abnormal brain activity. Confusion, uncontrolled shaking of limbs, and dizziness are general symptoms of epilepsy. Epilepsy may be due to various causes. Physical examination and imaging techniques help in diagnosing epilepsy. Medications, surgery, and deep brain stimulation are methods to treat epilepsy.

What is Epilepsy?

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological condition. In this condition, there is an abnormal activity in the brain. People with epilepsy may experience seizures and loss of awareness. The severity of the disease varies among patients. Some patients experience mild symptoms, while others experience severe symptoms. Patients with epilepsy have seizures that may accompany the loss of bowel and bladder control.

Epilepsy may develop in patients of all age groups. The disease occurs equally in both male and female. Males have a high incidence rate for epilepsy than females. The reason for this may be the increased exposure of male to the risk factors.

What Are The Types of Epilepsy?

Depending upon the number of areas of the brain with abnormal activity, epilepsy is of two different types:

• Focal epilepsy: When there is abnormal activity in only a single part of the brain, it is focal epilepsy. Focal epilepsy maybe with loss of consciousness and without loss of consciousness. The symptoms of such epilepsy overlap with other types of neurological conditions.
• Generalized epilepsy: This epilepsy involves all parts of the brain. The types of generalized epilepsy involve tonic seizures, atonic seizures, clonic seizures, tonic-clonic seizures, myoclonic seizures, and absence seizures.

What Are The Symptoms of Epilepsy?

Symptoms depend upon the type of epilepsy, whether focal or generalized. Generally, the symptoms of epilepsy remain the same during various episodes of epilepsy in a particular patient. Patients with epilepsy may experience the following symptoms:

• Dizziness
• Loss of consciousness
• Jerking movements of the limbs
• Temporary confusion

What Are The Causes of Epilepsy?

There are various causes of epilepsy. Some of them are:

• Trauma: Patients may have epilepsy due to head trauma. The trauma may be due to traumatic injury and vehicle accident.
• Underlying medical conditions: Various underlying medical conditions may result in epilepsy. These medical conditions may include stroke, brain tumour, encephalitis, and other brain infections.
• Hereditary: In some cases, epilepsy may run in families. It may also play a role in triggering seizures.
• Developmental disorders: Developmental disorders, such as neurofibromatosis and autism, may also result in epilepsy.
• Prenatal injury: Injury in the fetus also causes epilepsy. These may be due to lack of oxygen supply, poor nutrition or infection in the mother.

What Are The Risk Factors of Epilepsy?

Various factors increase the risk of epilepsy. These factors are:

• Infection: Infections in the brain increases the risk of developing seizures due to alteration in brain activity. These include meningitis and encephalitis.
• Trauma:Injury to the head and brain due to vehicle accident or during playing contact sports may also result in seizures.
• Stroke:Brain damage and epilepsy may also be due to vascular diseases such as stroke. Patients with high risk should follow the doctor’s instruction to reduce stroke.
• Age: Although the condition may occur at any age, children and the elderly are most vulnerable to this condition.
• Underlying medical conditions: Various conditions such as dementia or prolong childhood seizures may increase the risk of developing epilepsy.

What Are The Diagnosis of epilepsy?

The doctor may diagnose the condition through the following tests:

• Neurological examination: The doctor may perform a neurological evaluation to determine the condition of your brain. It may include examining the motor abilities and functional areas.
• Blood tests: Through blood tests, the doctor determines the cause of the neurological condition. The doctor may advise you to undergo blood tests to evaluate glucose level in the blood, determining the presence of infection and liver or kidney problems.
• Imaging techniques: The doctor may also ask you to undergo various imaging tests. These are electroencephalogram, CT scan, MRI, PET scan, functional MRI, and Single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT).
• Neuropsychological tests: A doctor may evaluate the status of your brain through several tests.
• Analytical techniques:The doctor may also make use of various analytical methods to diagnose epilepsy. These are Curry analysis and Statistical Parametric Mapping.

What Are The Treatment of Epilepsy?

The treatment of epilepsy depends upon the severity and frequency of seizures. Some of the treatment options for epilepsy are:

• Medications: The doctor prescribes various medicines to manage the symptoms of epilepsy. If the adult or children remain seizure-free after taking them for a considerable period, the doctor may discontinue them. Take the medicines as directed. There may be several side effects due to medications for epilepsy.
• Surgery: The doctor may also advise you to undergo surgery if the medications cannot prevent seizures. The surgeon removes the part of the brain, which has abnormal activity. The surgeon performs the surgery only in focal epilepsy. You may opt for surgery if removing the part of the brain does not interfere with vital functions.
• Other treatment: Various other methods for managing epilepsy includes deep brain stimulation, Ketogenic diet, and vagus nerve stimulation.