Informative Essay On Epilepsy

"1 in 26 people in the United States will develop Epilepsy at some point." Epilepsy is a

neurological disorder that is centralized in the brain. It can be caused by fever, infection, and

unknown reasons. Epilepsy causes a condition called seizures. Seizures are convulsions of the

body, it can also be as simple as someone staring off into space and having trouble speaking.

This disorder can cause many difficulties in everyday life. Driving privileges are taking away if

someone has had a seizure in the past 6 months. There have been evidence of triggers that

causes seizures to happen, but not all seizures are explained why they happen. Let's look at how

Epilepsy is diagnosed, what symptoms, and treatments are available, and how Epilepsy can

impact daily life. Epilepsy is a disorder that may be a burden, but one that can be treated and one

can live a long, happy life.

What is Epilepsy? "A disorder in which nerve cell activity in the brain is disturbed

causing seizures." One is diagnosed with Epilepsy if they have had more than one seizure, not

caused by fever or injury. Epilepsy can be passed down through the family.

No one knows what exactly causes Epilepsy, but some known factors can aid in one developing it: brain injury during an accident, infections like Meningitis, Encephalitis, Poisoning as lead or alcohol, and Brain tumor or stroke. Seizures are:"Uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain, which may produce a physical convulsion, minor physical signs, thought disturbances, or a combination of symptoms." There are 3 types of seizures: Absence seizures: aka Petit Mal, Person stares out in space, doesn't talk or move for a short period of time. The person is in a trance, but then snaps out of it and continues with normal activity. Usually only last a few seconds, but can happen many times per day. Grand Mal seizures: Person's body jerks, stiffens, and eyes roll back into head. Usually last a few seconds or minutes, and usually puts the person to sleep or makes them very tired or confused. Before a seizure occurs, one way to detect it: their arms go out like a zombie, they may go limp, slump down, or just fall over. Focal dyscognitive seizure: The person appears to be sleeping, but with their eyes open. May make strange sounds, or repeat themselves again and again like a broken record.

There are many different treatments for epilepsy. First a patient should go to their Primary care physician(PCP), they will send them to a Neurologist, but if needed they will send the patient to a
Neurosurgeon.

The Neurologist can treat patients, to help stop seizures, with medications. Types of medications: Depakote, Dilantin , Lamictal, Tegretol, Keppra, and Trileptal. If the seizures are not controlled with the medication, and continue to be extremely frequent and causes the patient to miss out on a good quality of life, the Neurologist will send the patient to a Neurosurgeon where they can do a surgical procedure known as Resection or Resective surgery­ "the surgeon removes the area of the brain that causes the patient's seizures." The goal of this surgery is to stop seizures all together. Most common type of resection surgery is "temporal lobectomy" part of the temporal lobe of the brain is removed. A less common surgery for Epilepsy that "interrupts nerve pathways that allow seizures to spread." This procedure is called Corpus

Callosotomy.
How Epilepsy affects daily life. May cause one to not be productive in school, work, or at home. Friends may be distant, and it is hard for you to make new ones. Problem sleeping, bouts of depression. No driving, until seizures are controlled and symptom free for at least 6 months or longer also a chance of death.

Epilepsy is a disorder that may be a burden, but one that can be treated and one can live a long,happy life. 150,000 to 200,000 people are diagnosed with Epilepsy in the United States each year. "4 and 10 out of 1,000 people on earth live with active seizures at one time." Although the number of people grows each year, the amount of research, doctors, medicine , and treatments also continue to grow to help people with Epilepsy be symptom free. One may not know how or why they have developed Epilepsy, but with the right treatment, they will be able to go on with their lives normally.