About Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a neurological condition that makes people susceptible to seizures. A seizure is a change in sensation, awareness, or behavior brought about by a brief electrical disturbance in the brain.

Seizures vary from a momentary disruption of the senses, to short periods of unconsciousness or staring spells, to convulsions. Some people have just one type of seizure. Others have more than one type.

Although they look different, all seizures are caused by the same thing: a sudden change in how the cells of the brain send electrical signals to each other.

If you have epilepsy, you probably already know that it's not a mental disorder. It can be caused by anything that affects the brain, including tumors and strokes. Sometimes epilepsy is inherited. Often, no cause can be found.

Epilepsy is generally not the kind of condition that gets worse with time. Most adults who have it can expect to live a normal life span.

Doctors treat epilepsy primarily with seizure-preventing medicines. Although seizure medications are not a cure, they control seizures in the majority of people with epilepsy.

Surgery, diet (primarily in children), or electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve -- a large nerve leading into the brain, may be options if medications fail to control seizures. Several drugs (called antiepileptic or anticonvulsant drugs) are prescribed to prevent seizures. Many factors are involved in choosing the right seizure drug. The goal of treatment is to stop seizures without side effects from too much medicine.

You may need blood tests from time to time, but it is important to remember that drug levels cannot tell how you feel or how many seizures you have had. Achieving the best seizure control possible depends on your taking the same amount of the medicine every day in the manner prescribed by your doctor. However, epilepsy can affect many aspects of life besides the need to take a certain number of pills on time.