Epilepsy also known as a seizure disorder is a brain condition that causes recurring seizures. A seizure is a sudden rush of abnormal electrical activity in your brain.
Symptoms
Seizure symptoms vary depending on the type of seizure. Because epilepsy is caused by certain activity in the brain, seizures can affect any brain process. Seizure symptoms may include:
- Temporary confusion.
- A staring spell.
- Stiff muscles.
- Uncontrollable jerking movements of the arms and legs.
- Loss of consciousness.
- Psychological symptoms such as fear, anxiety or deja vu.
Sometimes people with epilepsy may have changes in their behavior. They also may have symptoms of psychosis.
Most people with epilepsy tend to have the same type of seizure each time. Symptoms are usually similar from episode to episode.
Warning signs of seizures
- Focal seizures without loss of consciousness. Once called simple partial seizures, these seizures don’t cause a loss of awareness, also known as consciousness. They may alter emotions or change the way things look, smell, feel, taste or sound. Some people experience deja vu. This type of seizure also may result in involuntary jerking of a body part, such as an arm or a leg. And focal seizures may cause sensory symptoms such as tingling, dizziness and flashing lights.
- Focal seizures with impaired awareness. Once called complex partial seizures, these seizures involve a change or loss of consciousness. This type of seizure may seem like being in a dream. During a focal seizure with impaired awareness, people may stare into space and not respond in typical ways to the environment. They also may perform repetitive movements, such as hand rubbing, chewing, swallowing or walking in circles.
Symptoms of focal seizures may be confused with other neurological conditions, such as migraine, narcolepsy or mental illness.
Some types of focal seizures include:
- Temporal lobe seizures.
- Frontal lobe seizures.
- Occipital lobe seizures.
When to see a doctor
Seek immediate medical help if any of the following occurs with a seizure:
- The seizure lasts more than five minutes.
- Breathing or consciousness doesn’t return after the seizure stops.
- A second seizure follows immediately.
- You have a high fever.
- You’re pregnant.
- You have diabetes.
- You’ve injured yourself during the seizure.
- You continue to have seizures even though you’ve been taking anti-seizure medicine.
If you have a seizure for the first time, seek medical advice.
Causes
Epilepsy has no identifiable cause in about half the people with the condition. In the other half, the condition may be traced to various factors, including:
- Genetic influence. Genetic changes can occur in a child without being passed down from a parent.For most people, genes are only part of the cause of epilepsy. Certain genes may make a person more sensitive to environmental conditions that trigger seizures.
- Head trauma. Head trauma as a result of a car accident or other traumatic injury can cause epilepsy.
- Factors in the brain. Brain tumors can cause epilepsy. Epilepsy also may be caused by the way blood vessels form in the brain. People with blood vessel conditions such as arteriovenous malformations and cavernous malformations can have seizures. And in adults older than age 35, stroke is a leading cause of epilepsy.
- Infections. Meningitis, HIV, viral encephalitis and some parasitic infections can cause epilepsy.
- Injury before birth. Before they’re born, babies are sensitive to brain damage that could be caused by several factors. They might include an infection in the mother, poor nutrition or not enough oxygen. This brain damage can result in epilepsy or cerebral palsy.
- Developmental conditions. Epilepsy can sometimes occur with developmental conditions. People with autism are more likely to have epilepsy than are people without autism. Research also has found that people with epilepsy are more likely to have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other developmental conditions. Having both conditions may be related to genes.
