Detailed Examination of Epilepsy: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

This research paper provides a comprehensive overview of epilepsy, a neurological disorder characterized by seizures. It explores the various causes of epilepsy, including brain conditions, infectious diseases, prenatal injuries, dementia, family history, and genetic influences. The paper details th...Read More

RESEARCH PAPER

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Causes..............................................................................................................................................1
Symptoms of epilepsy......................................................................................................................3
Diagnosis and Treatment for Epilepsy............................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Epilepsy is considered as a sort of neurological disorder in which all the activities related
to the nerve cell is being interrupted and disturbed and it also causes seizures, which is a sort of
electric activity inside the brain (Kwan, Schachter and Brodie, 2011). It impacts on the way how
a person acts but it is for a shorter period only. There are two types of seizures, caused by
epilepsy, generalised and the partial ones in which the generalised ones are responsible for
affecting the whole brain whereas the partial ones are responsible for affecting only one part of
brain. The research paper is about various factors of epilepsy including its causes, symptoms and
treatment as well.
Causes
It has been observed that epilepsy can be caused by any factor that disturbs the general
structure or pattern of the neuron activities. Although there are various causes which leads to
epilepsy but some factors play a major role in causing the disorder and these are discussed as
under:
Brain conditions
The disorder also depends on the condition of the brain. Like in case when someone is
already suffering from strokes or brain tumours which causes some sort of damage to the brain,
in that case also, it can result in epilepsy. Out of all these, stroke is considered as the leading
cause that plays a major role in causing epilepsy. Specially, it is observed in the adults of age 35
or over.
Infectious diseases
When a person is already suffering from any of the infectious diseases such as AIDS,
meningitis etc., then there are huge chances of the person getting epilepsy because it disturbs the
functioning of the neuron activities in the brain.
Prenatal injury
Before the birth of a baby, they are more sensitive and prone to various damages
including the brain damage as well. The damage may be caused by various factors such as the
mother might be suffering from any infection or the mother might be very weak and does not
take a proper and balanced intake of diet. If proper oxygen amount is not provided to the baby in
the womb, it may also affect the brain of the baby, causing damages which further results in
epilepsy or in cerebral palsy as well.
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Dementia or Alzheimer's disease
Dementia is considered as a disorder in the memory and brain of a person which makes
various interruptions in their daily life. It actually decreases the ability of a person to think and
understand properly (Engel, 2013). Dementia is also considered as a factor for causing epilepsy
because it affects the brain to a that extent that it loses its capability to analyse things properly.
Alzeimer's diseases is also a sort of dementia that only worsens with time. In this also, the person
starts forgetting even the basic details, so it creates issues with memory, behaviour and
understanding as well. In this also, the brain and the neuronal activities are being affected which
further can cause epilepsy.
Family history
If one has a family history of epilepsy, then there are more than half of the chances that
the child will also be having epilepsy at the time of birth or even can happen at any time during
the whole lifetime. In case when the disorder is because of the family history, in that case, the
person may face an increased rate of seizures. Although, some do not realise it is because of the
genes but they can develop the seizure disorder at maximized rates.
High fever
It has been observed that the children who have seizures because of the high fever are
less prone to epilepsy but the risk can maximize if the child faces a long duration of the seizure
or any other condition of the nervous system.
Genetic Influence
Genetics play a very important role as in some case of epilepsy when someone
experiences seizures and the specific part of the brain that has been affected, it is considered as a
case of genetic influence. In some cases, where the mother is used to some drugs at the time of
pregnancy as well, then also, there are huge chances that the child may be prone to some
disorders such as epilepsy (Fisher and et.al., 2014). If the child does not get proper oxygen inside
the womb, it can also result in epilepsy. Although smoking and drinking also impact the health of
the mother as well as child but substance abuse can cause epilepsy and along with it can affect
the health of the child very badly. There are chances of the child may be born handicapped.
Traumatic injuries
In some case, if the person has gone through some traumatic injury such as any car
accident in which any external force makes damages to the brain and affects the whole or partial
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functioning of it, then, it may result in epilepsy. It is because one of the basic issue that occurs
after any traumatic brain injury causes seizures in that person. Those seizures cause epilepsy in
an individual. Although, the rate of seizures may vary from one incident to other, but it causes
epilepsy.
Symptoms of epilepsy
Epilepsy is the central nervous system disorder in which causes seizures and brain
activity become abnormal and sometimes loss of awareness. Epilepsy develop in anyone and it
affects both male and female of al the races. Seizure symptoms can vary widely different peoples
have different symptoms of epilepsy. Some person simple stare blankly for the few seconds
whereas another people repeatedly twice their legs and arms. Some peoples need lifelong
treatment and some of them overcome this diseases by taking appropriate medicine.
Symptoms of the epilepsy is as follows:
Epilepsy is cause by the abnormal activity in the brain and seizures can directly affect the
brain activities and entire human body. Main symptoms of the epilepsy is temporary confusion,
uncontrollable movements of legs and arms, loss of awareness and there are different types of
physical symptoms such as fear, deja and anxiety. Symptoms depend on the seizure type and
each person have different affects from the epilepsy. There are various seizures from the epilepsy
and it is classified into two parts based on the brain activity of the human. It can occur at any
ages in the human and peoples need to take medicine and treatment that helps to overcome this
disease. This disease directly affects the entire human body it is caused by the abnormal activity
of the brain in the human body. Peoples need to take medicine from the doctor for the prevention
and overcome the effects of the disease. Symptoms are depended on the type of seizure in most
of the cases all the peoples have different type of seizure in their body if people have occurred
many types of seizure then it is the critical condition then they need to take treatment to
overcome the disease (Brigo and et.al., 2014).
Focal seizures appear to outcome from the abnormal activity in some part of the area in a
brain. It is also classified into two parts such as without loss of consciousness and with proper
awareness.
Seizures without loss of consciousness: it includes different types of symptoms such as
human performing repetitive movements, staring blankly, flashing lights, dizziness etc. To
overcome the effect of the disease people need to take treatment from the doctor. It modify the
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emption in the human body such as way of thinking, smell, taste and feel (Viscidi and et.al.,
(2014)).
Seizures with the impaired awareness: people who have this type of seizures they may
stare and many peoples performance repetitive movements such as walking in circle and rubbing
their hands etc.
Generalized seizures include all the area of the brain. There are different types of seizures
that have negative impact on the human body. To overcome the effect of the disease people, need
to take appropriate treatment. In this type of seizure, it includes mainly six type of seizure such
as absence, tonic, atonic, clonic and tonic clonic. Each have different symptoms that occur in
human body. Tonic seizure affects the muscles in the back of the body, arms and legs. Whereas
atonic seizure causes the loss of the muscle control. This can occur at any age in human. In
absence seizure occurs mainly in the childhood and it is characterized by the body movements
such as lip smacking and eye blinking (Feliciano and et.al., 2013). It affects the human body and
child also feels weak in this type of seizure. Clonic seizure are associated with the repeated
jerking movement of muscles. It directly affects the human body such as neck, arms and legs. It
occurs at the any age of the human. It involves entire brain parts and directly affect the human
entire body.
Myoclonic seizure usually occurs sudden brief jerks and movement of twice of the legs
and arms. Toni n clonic seizure is the most dramatic type of seizure and it causes the loss of
consciousness, contentiously shaking and sometimes people loss the control of the bladder. If
peoples have their type symptoms then they need to consult with the doctor. There are many
symptoms and critical condition such as seizure lasts more than the five minutes, consciousness,
seizures repeatedly immediately, high fever, diabetes etc. These all the serious conditions from
the epilepsy, that time people need to take appropriate treatment from the doctor.
Diagnosis and Treatment for Epilepsy
It is not easy to identify the trigger of epileptic seizure as the sign and symptoms that an
individual carry in this disease are common, such as, lack of sleep, stress, skipping meals, illness
with fever etc. before, jumping to the treatment it is important to make right kind of diagnosis for
the individual (Shorvon, Perucca and Engel Jr, 2015). Some of the common diagnosis methods
for this disease includes, neurological examination in order to test motor abilities and function of
the brain. Complete Blood Count (CBC) can give a sign of some infectious disease, functioning
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of kidney and liver and glucose level in blood. Electroencephalogram (EEG) is another common
test performed to diagnose epilepsy. It is a non-painful test, sometimes performed in sleep as
well. It helps in understanding wave pattern in the brain. Some common imaging test that can be
performed to diagnose this disease includes, CT Scan, MRI and Positron Emission Tomography
(PET) (Porter and Jacobson, 2013).
After Epilepsy is diagnosed, there are several ways through which a patient can go under
treatment of this disease. Common method of treatment is through medications, special diet, etc.
In case of its higher intensity, when medications may not work properly, surgical methods are
another way for treatment of epilepsy. However, the major part of epileptic seizures can be
treated through drug therapy, particularly with the help of anticonvulsant drugs. The treatment is
prescribed by the health professionals as per the severity of the disease in the patient. An
accurate diagnosis to the disease can help in choosing best treatment for the patient.
The treatment generally begins with drug therapy in the initial phase. If the condition is
not treated through medications, it can then move further to propose surgery for the condition.
Anti-seizure medication, also anti-epileptic drug can help in dealing with the problem. The
frequency of the medicine is decreased as the intensity of issue is lessened. Some of the common
anti-epileptic drug compounds are, lamotrigine, Zonisamide, topiramate, Sodium valproate,
Phenytoin, etc. The compound is changes as per the increasing or reducing intensity of epilepsy
(Schmidt and Schachter, 2014).
Most of the patients are able to respond to anti-seizure treatment. When disease does not
fall under controlling position, different other measures of treatment are used by health
professionals. Resective surgery is performed where a part of the brain is surgically removed due
to which seizure is happening in the body. The removed area is roughly around the size of a golf
ball. Removed part of the brain can be brain lesion, lobe or a portion of a brain lobe.
Another procedure that is used to treat epilepsy is multiple subpial transection which is
rarely performed on patients. Doctor perform this procedure on the patient when the individual is
having frequent seizures or if he is at severe stage of epilepsy. It can be done if seizure does not
take place in similar part of the brain and hence keep changing its place of origin (Perucca and
Tomson, 2011).
Hemispherectomy is a radical kind of surgery for epilepsy. Ion this procedure that outer
layer of whole side of the brain is removed. This method used when a side of the brain is
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damaged due to seizures. It is commonly performed on young children, babies who are born with
damage in their brain and older children whose brain have been damaged due to frequent
seizures.
Corpus callosotomy is another type of procedure commonly performed on epilepsy
patients. It is quite different from other surgeries as it does not stop seizures in the patient. The
doctor cut the nerve fibre between two sides of the brain which helps in stopping the transfer of
seizure from some hemisphere to another. It assists in making the disease less severe. The
method is commonly performed in children who are suffering from high intensity epilepsy
(What Is Epilepsy Surgery?, 2017).
There are some common risks that are attached to surgery of the brain. These are,
infection, stroke, paralysis attack, problem in speech, loss of vision, issues in motor skills, loss of
memory etc. Different brain may react in different manner, it is important to weigh the potential
benefits of the treatment with the doctor before going under any medication or surgery. The
procedure of surgery may be intense and hence require adequate amount of duration for
recovery. Even after the treatment through surgery, the patient may have to continue with anti-
seizure medications to keep the situation under control. Despite being in longer duration of
recovery, surgery is considered as a better option for epileptic patients. It is a beneficial
treatment for the long-term aspect. However, no medication can be taken by the patient without
prior permission from the doctor. Around 40% of patients have reacted positively towards
surgical treatment of epilepsy.
Ketogenic diet is another important aspect to increase the pace of recovery among
epileptic patients. It has a high amount of fat with no or minimal amount of sugar. It is planned
by the nutritionist or the doctor under which treatment of the patient is going on. Moreover, the
vitamins are increased in the diet intake. The main aspect is to burn fat through starvation rather
than carbohydrates present in the body (Elliott and et.al, 2011).
CONCLUSION
Epilepsy is the central nervous system disorder in which brain activity become abnormal
and it causes the seizure and loss of awareness. There are different types of seizure that can occur
at any age in a human. Symptoms are varied depending on the type of seizure and each people
have various type of symptoms for the epilepsy. It directly affects the entire human body,
peoples need to take medicine to overcome the effect of the disease. From the epilepsy there are
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many risks such as head injury, brain infection and falling. Peoples need to take treatment to
overcome the risk from the epilepsy. There are various types of seizure from this disease that
affects the different parts of the human body such as legs, bones, neck etc.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Brigo, F. & et.al., (2014). Why do people Google epilepsy?: An infodemiological study of
online behavior for epilepsy-related search terms. Epilepsy & behavior. 31. 67-70.
Elliott, R. E. & et.al. (2011). Vagus nerve stimulation in 436 consecutive patients with treatment-
resistant epilepsy: long-term outcomes and predictors of response. Epilepsy &
Behavior. 20(1). 57-63.
Engel, J. (2013). Seizures and epilepsy (Vol. 83). Oxford University Press.
Feliciano, D. M. & et.al., (2013). A circuitry and biochemical basis for tuberous sclerosis
symptoms: from epilepsy to neurocognitive deficits. International Journal of
Developmental Neuroscience. 31(7). 667-678.
Fisher, R. S., & et.al. (2014). ILAE official report: a practical clinical definition of
epilepsy. Epilepsia. 55(4). 475-482.
Kwan, P., Schachter, S. C., & Brodie, M. J. (2011). Drug-resistant epilepsy. New England
Perucca, E., & Tomson, T. (2011). The pharmacological treatment of epilepsy in adults. The
lancet neurology. 10(5). 446-456.
Porter, B. E., & Jacobson, C. (2013). Report of a parent survey of cannabidiol-enriched cannabis
use in pediatric treatment-resistant epilepsy. Epilepsy & Behavior. 29(3). 574-577.
Schmidt, D., & Schachter, S. C. (2014). Drug treatment of epilepsy in adults. Bmj. 348. g254.
Shorvon, S., Perucca, E., & Engel Jr, J. (Eds.). (2015). The treatment of epilepsy. John Wiley &
Sons.
Viscidi, E. W. & et.al., (2014). The association between epilepsy and autism symptoms and
maladaptive behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorder. Autism. 18(8). 996-
1006.
Online
What Is Epilepsy Surgery?. 2017. [Online]. Available through <
https://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/surgical-options-epilepsy#1>.
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