General Nursing©

What You Should Know About Epilepsy?

The risk of epilepsy from birth through age 20 is approximately one percent. Within this group, the risk is highest during the first year of life and increases somewhat at the onset of puberty. From age 20 to 55, it decreases again but increases after age 55. The prevalence of epilepsy (defined as the total of the population suffering from a disorder at a particular time) has been estimated to be about five to eight in every 1,000 people.

Epilepsy comes from a temporal electrical disturbance inside the brain. Epilepsy is a recurrent seizure disorder caused by abnormal electrical discharges from brain cells, often in the cerebral cortex. There is nothing mysterious or mystical about it. It is not contagious. It is not due to witchcraft, demonic possession, or mental illness. It is a medical condition caused by sudden, brief changes in how the brain works. It is not a distinct disease; it is a group of disorders for which recurrent seizures are the main symptom. When this changes occurs in the brain, a person's movement, behavior or consciousness may be altered for a short time, after which he goes back to his former condition. This is also called a seizure.

The word epilepsy is used when seizure happens repeatedly.
Different forms of epilepsy are either secondary to a particular brain abnormality or neurological disorder, or are said to be "idiopathic," without any clear cause.

Normally, nerve transmission in the brain occurs in an orderly way, allowing a smooth flow of electrical activity. A seizure occurs when these neurons generate uncoordinated electrical discharges that spread throughout the brain. This can occur with both normal and abnormal nerve cells.

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