Epilepsy: causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment

Epilepsy have long been known, but only recently it stopped compared with craziness and obsession. This disease is a consequence of the defeat of the nervous system, which is outwardly manifested in the form of periodic attacks, accompanied by spasms and convulsions, after which it may be faint, or to advance a state close to coma.

Epilepsy – what is it

Epileptic attack can happen only once and never to disturb or become a familiar companion of everyday life. Among the entire adult population of the world at least 2% at least once in their lifetime experienced an epileptic seizure. Of this number of patients, only a quarter find the cause of the seizure using

What triggers an attack?

Among the reasons for the appearance of the attack the doctors usually called:

• Repetitive flashes of light and color;
• Repeating sounds;
• Bright alternating images, video effects;
• Touching certain parts of the body;
• Poisoning of any kind;
• The intake of alcohol, narcotic drugs;
• Taking certain types of medication;
• Oxygen starvation;
• Hypoglycemic attack – a drop in blood sugar levels.

Interestingly, the last three reasons may cause epileptic fit even in perfectly healthy people. Unfortunately, in our life all of the above points fall into excess, so to fully protect the epileptic, particularly small, it is impossible. Strobe lights at dance parties, popular music, movies, and video games advertising shops on the street, stuffiness in the room, treated with certain medicines, diets and irregular meals, pollution and crowd in public transport in rush hour – all this increases the risk that seizures can happen right here and now.

Why is this happening? It is believed that the brain tissue of epileptics has a lot more sensitivity. So that the standard signal for a healthy person is harmless, and for patients with epilepsy any chemical irritant, including, secreted by the body, causing a seizure.

How to recognize

Often epileptic and his entourage are unaware of the disease till the first seizure. For the first time can be difficult to establish the cause and specific stimulus, but signs of its approach in almost all the same:

• Headache for several days before seizure;
• Sleep disturbance;
• Nervousness and irritability;
• Poor appetite;
• In a bad mood.

The worst thing – after the seizure the person may not remember him complaining of fatigue, lethargy. During the convulsions he strained the muscles and no reaction to whatever it is – won't dilate/constrict pupils,the patient hears sounds and responds to touch and even pain.

But that signs with the full attack, and there are also the so-called small – this time a man falls, but it can happen fainting, face twitching convulsively, making the patient a strange and uncharacteristic things, repeating one motion many times. After a small epileptic seizure also does not remember anything of what happened and behaves as if nothing had happened.

Also seizures vary according to the location of the affected areas of the brain:

• Focal small lesion in the brain;
• General – the whole brain;
• The affected area responsible for feelings, for example, the sense of smell;
• Mental – in conjunction with mental disabilities;
• Jacksonian – seizure starts in one part of the body;
• Psychomotor – earlier loss of spatial orientation, confusion;
• Convulsive or tonic-clonic – seizures directly large that printto considered epileptic, accompanied by convulsions.

So, if the man froze, looking glass eyes at one point, he has little twitches, and he's not responding, but no falls and no jerks – this is a small attack or absence seizure. If the patient faints, he has convulsions, suddenly turns head, compressed teeth and he inadvertently writes, but after all this comes to is consultany or a seizure.

If seizures do not stop and the symptoms worsen is epileptic status, a special condition of strong impact of electrical activity on the brain. In this case, you should immediately call an ambulance and to make every effort during the convulsion the patient does not injure himself. Without medical care for status epilepticus may be fatal.

Diagnosis

One seizure no doctor will make a diagnosis. They should happen at least two, and the patient should not have other diseases that can manifest in the form of attacks.

How to treat epilepsy

To date, there are several ways to make life easier for those suffering from epilepsy. If the treatment is correct and the patient complies with the recommendations of doctors, the seizures go away.

The exact definition of the lobes of the brain, in which there is pathology there appears the possibility of medication to reduce her electrical activity. Of course, when large volumes of medicines and an integrated approach there are certain side effects, but they can also be offset.

Unfortunately, there is a special category of epileptics, for which you have to make a choice – to drink medicines with the risk to health or to expect the fit without them is pregnant and lactatingmother. To prevent seizures, they need constant medical supervision and treatment consistent with drugs.

There is a more radical way – surgical removal of the affected area of tissue. But it's too risky and permission for such operation to difficult to do and it will take not every neurosurgeon.

The best way is to find the cause of the disease and neutralize it. If this problems with blood composition or infectious disease, the person has all the chances to be cured. On the other hand, some types of seizures are incurable, for example, small and medicines against them.