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CK Birla Hospitals does not ask for any payment for appointment confirmation. Please beware of fake calls asking for such payments and if you receive such a call, please report this to legal authorities or the cyber cell.

Epilepsy

What is epilepsy?

Epilepsy is a neurological health disorder that influences the brain by forming abnormal activities. It causes the problem of seizures, uncommon behaviour frequently, awareness loss, and sensations as well. This health condition doesn’t target one specific age group and can involve young people, adults, old, and children.

Epilepsy diagnosis is done when an individual experiences more than two episodes of seizures. Seizure is known as the unexpected rush of anomalous electric actions in the brain.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) research, epilepsy affects more than 50 million people all across the globe. When we talk about the most affected people by this problem then it usually involves young children and elders. On the other hand, men are the most targeted population and they tend to develop this problem faster than women.

Types of epilepsy and their symptoms

There is an epilepsy classification by healthcare providers that involves identifying the presence and absence of muscle activity. There are two primary epilepsy types and they are focal onset seizures and generalised onset seizures.

  1. Focal onset seizures:

    It is a type known as the reflection of individuals experiencing seizures who are awake. In this type, an individual is very well aware during the seizure. It is also known as the simple partial seizure. The symptoms of this type are modification in the senses, and changes in taste, smell, or sound.

    An individual can also experience changes in emotions, and uncontrolled muscle jerking specifically in the arms and legs. One can also experience flashing lights, feeling dizzy, and a tingling sensation.

    • Focal onset impaired awareness seizure:

      In this kind of seizure, an individual goes confused or doesn’t have an awareness when they are experiencing the seizure. The most common symptoms are blank stare, repetitive movements such as blinking, chewing motion, and finger or hand motions.

  2. Generalised onset seizures: This type of epilepsy distresses the huge range of cells on both sides of a brain simultaneously. Six types of generalized seizures are there:
    • Absence seizures: It involves causing the issue of blank stare which means that an individual experiences awareness loss. The symptoms are no muscle movements, constant eye blinking, motions like rubbing fingers, or lip smacking. It is quite common among children. It usually lasts for not more than 10 seconds and people sometimes consider it daydreaming as well.
    • Atonic seizures: It is among the types of epilepsy that are known as “without tone”. In this type, an individual tends to lose control of their muscles and experience weakness during the seizure. The primary epilepsy symptom of this type is a drop attack.
    • Tonic seizures: It is referred to as “with tone” and in this seizure type there is a huge increase in muscle tone. There is stiffness in the legs, back, and complete body causing the problem of falling during the seizure.
    • Clonic seizures: This type of epilepsy seizure is known for its speed, repetitive intensity, stiffness, and muscle jerking. This kind of seizure occurs after the muscles keep jerking for a few seconds and last for around two minutes.
    • Tonic-clonic seizures: It is the amalgamation of muscle stiffness, repetition, and muscle jerking that is rhythmic. The symptoms of this epilepsy include losing consciousness, falling to the ground, muscle stiffness, and jerking for around five minutes. Some people also tend to bite their tongue and begin drooling, losing control over the bladder.
    • Myoclonic seizures: In this seizure type, an individual experiences a brief shock, muscle twitching, or jerking. An individual can face this kind of seizure in not more than 10 seconds.

Epilepsy causes

In around 70% of the cases, the epilepsy causes are not known, however, there are known causes which include:

Epilepsy symptoms

The primary epilepsy symptom is recurrent seizures, although it depends on the type of seizure an individual is experiencing.

The symptoms of epilepsy are:

People with epilepsy disease usually go through a similar seizure type and have similar symptoms as well.

When to see a doctor?

You must visit a doctor when you observe the signs of epilepsy or think that you have had one recently. It doesn’t imply that you have epilepsy disease but it is important to be sure about the problem you experienced.

You must not delay calling an ambulance if:

Epilepsy diagnosis

If you think that you might have a seizure, firstly ensure to see a doctor at the earliest. Secondly, it is not always important that it is a sign of epilepsy disease, it can also reflect other health conditions. The doctor will assess your condition based on your clinical history and symptoms. They might order a neurological test so that they can evaluate your motor efficiencies and mental functionality.

The doctor also will ask you to get a complete blood count test done during epilepsy diagnosis. Blood tests are used to identify:

EEG or electroencephalogram is a test that helps in epilepsy diagnosis. The test is painless and non-invasive that includes electrodes placed on your scalp so that any abnormal activities or patterns are identified. The doctor also sometimes asks for some particular task to perform during the test.

There are cases when doctors perform the test even when they are asleep. With the help of imaging tests, it becomes easier to diagnose the issues like tumours and other anomalies causing seizures. These tests are:

Epilepsy treatment

Epilepsy treatment assists an individual with fewer seizures and prevents them entirely as well. Doctor plans the treatment based on:

There are epilepsy treatment options that involve:

Why choose CMRI for epilepsy treatment?

The Calcutta Medical Research Institute or CMRI is among the multi-specialty hospitals committing itself to fulfil the supreme care to its patients. We have incorporated highly-skilled and qualified neurologist doctors. They make sure that the complications are prevented by giving words of encouragement to the patients for following the instructions after the pre-operative and post-operative procedures.

Our commitment is to offer remarkable services throughout your journey with us. Patient-focused and physician-directed are the two primary elements of our organization.

If you have been looking out for epilepsy treatment, then you should choose our neurologist specialists, and here is why:

 

FAQs

How long do epilepsy seizures last?

The length of a seizure usually is from a few seconds to minutes but it entirely depends on the seizure type an individual is experiencing.

How would you identify the powerful element of seizure trigger?

The most triggered seizure behaviours are sleep deprivation, alcohol consumption, stress, and hormonal shifts linked to menstruation among women. However, the most powerful seizure factor is lack of sleep.

Can people with epilepsy experience other conditions?

Yes, people with epilepsy diseases usually suffer from other conditions such as anxiety, depression, migraine headaches, and epilepsy itself. It is also found that individuals suffering from epilepsy can suffer from the problems like disorders of mood, psychosis, and personality disorders.

Whom to seek when experiencing epilepsy symptoms?

You must seek the help of a neurologist specializing in upholding the functionalities of the brain and nervous system. They will assist you with epilepsy diagnosis and treatment.

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