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epilepsy

What is the main cause of epilepsy?

What.is the main cause of epilepsy?

What causes epilepsy? In general, epilepsy and seizures result from abnormal circuit activity in the brain. Any event ranging from faulty wiring during brain development, brain inflammation, physical injury or infection can lead to seizure and epilepsy.

epilepsy

Cases in which the known signs of an epileptic seizure appear are often implicit, eliciting strange sensations, hypersensitivity and abnormal behavior. Some people with epilepsy stare into space for a while when they have a seizure, while others suffer from severe convulsions and convulsions.

Many people, such as:  children with fever may suffer from one seizure, but if the case recurs and a person has two seizures, the probability of having another third seizure increases very seriously, and it is worth mentioning that at least two seizures must be diagnosed Epilepsy.

Epilepsy generally appears in childhood or in adults over the age of 65, however epilepsy may appear at any age.

Correct and appropriate epilepsy treatment can prevent the patient from epileptic seizures or at least reduce the frequency and severity of their occurrence, and many children and boys with epilepsy recover and recover from it in adulthood .

Epilepsy symptoms

Epilepsy is caused by the irregular activity of brain cells, so epileptic seizures may cause damage to any work done by the body and coordinated by the brain , and an epileptic seizure may cause temporary confusion, complete loss of consciousness, staring into space, and involuntary trembling movements of the hands and feet.

The signs and symptoms of a seizure vary according to its type. In most cases, if a person has had recurrent seizures, they tend to develop the same signs and symptoms in each seizure, so that the signs associated with a seizure become the same from one seizure to another, but there are other patients with different types of seizures. Seizures, signs and symptoms vary from time to time.

Doctors generally tend to classify seizures into partial or general, according to the picture in which the irregular activity began in the brain. If the seizure appears as a result of irregular activity in only one part of the brain, this is a partial epileptic seizure. In all parts of the brain, it is called a general seizure. In some cases, a seizure may start in some part of the brain and then move to all parts of the brain.

The most important information and details about the types of epileptic seizures are as follows:

1. Partial seizure

Types of partial seizures include:

  • Partial seizures Simple

This seizure does not cause loss of consciousness, but may cause a change in feeling, or a change in the appearance, smell, taste, or sounds of familiar things.

  • Complex partial seizures

This type of epileptic seizure causes a change in the perceptual state, then loss of consciousness for a certain period of time.

2. General Nubia

The general shift includes the following:

  • Absentee seizure or petit mal seizure : This seizure is characterized by staring into space, implicit bodily movements, and temporary deterioration in consciousness.
  • Myoclonic seizure: This seizure appears as sharp movements of the hands and feet.
  • A tonic-clonic seizure (Grand Mal): It is the most severe type of seizure, and is characterized by loss of consciousness, body stiffness, shaking and tremors, and sometimes accompanied by biting the tongue or loss of control over the exits of secretions .

Causes and risk factors for epilepsy

Certain types of epilepsy are caused by a defect in the genes responsible for the way brain cells communicate with each other, but it is known that only rare types of the disease are caused by certain defective genes. It is a central factor in the emergence and development of epilepsy.

Although it appears that certain types of epilepsy are passed on from one generation to the next, genetic genetic factors constitute only one factor among the factors that can cause the emergence of epilepsy, and this may be due to the fact that some people tend to be affected more than Others are affected by environmental factors that can lead to seizures.

In many cases, a seizure may occur as a result of an accident, illness, or medical trauma, for example:  a stroke that causes damage to the brain or prevents oxygen from reaching the brain. In rare cases, the cause of the appearance of epilepsy may be due to a tumor inside the brain. Not all are caused by a single identifiable, diagnosable factor, and this applies to about half of people with epilepsy.

Among the risk factors are the following:

  • family history
  • Head injuries.
  • Stroke or other diseases of the blood vessels.
  • Inflammatory diseases of the brain, such as:  meningitis , continuous convulsions and shivering during childhood due to high temperature and fever .

Epilepsy complications

If a person stumbles while having a seizure, he may receive a blow to the head, and a person who has a seizure while swimming or bathing in the bathtub is likely to drown.

An epileptic seizure that results in loss of consciousness or loss of control can be very dangerous if it occurs while driving or operating machinery, and medicines intended to suppress seizures may cause drowsiness , which may limit the ability to drive.

Epileptic seizures in a pregnant woman pose a danger to the fetus and the mother alike, knowing that a number of drugs approved for the treatment of epileptic seizures increase the risk of congenital abnormalities of the fetus, and therefore if a woman has epilepsy and wants to become pregnant, she should consult about the matter with the attending physician. .

Most women with epilepsy are able to become pregnant and give birth to healthy babies, but they may be required to change the therapeutic dose of the drugs and must be monitored regularly throughout the pregnancy.

The risk of sudden and unknown death as a result of a seizure increases if:

  • Seizures may have started at a very early age.
  • Epileptic seizures involving more than one part of the brain.
  • Continuing seizures despite taking medication.

Epilepsy diagnosis

The attending physician needs a detailed description of the seizures; Since most people with epilepsy do not remember what happened to them at the time of the seizure, the doctor may ask to speak to another person who was with the patient at the time of the seizure and who witnessed the signs and symptoms.

When visiting the clinic, the attending physician may conduct some neurological examinations and diagnoses, such as: muscle tone, muscle strength, sensory function, gait form, stability, motor coordination and balance.

The attending physician may ask the patient some questions in order to test the way of thinking, ability to judge and memory, and he may recommend some blood tests in order to diagnose various problems, such as: infections, lead poisoning, anemia , and diabetes,  all of which may be factors that cause epileptic seizures.

The attending physician may also recommend conducting some tests in order to diagnose abnormalities or abnormalities in the work of the brain. The following are the most important tests that the doctor may request:

1. Evaluation of the Electroencephalogram (EEG)

It provides a recording monitoring of the electrical activity inside the brain by means of sensors that are installed on the skull. People with epilepsy often show changes in the normal orderly pattern of brain waves, although they do not have a seizure at that moment.

2. Computed tomography – CT

By using special x-ray techniques, the device collects images from different angles and merges them together to display a cross-section of the brain and skull , this method helps the treating physician to exclude and rule out possible factors that may cause epileptic seizures.

3. Magnetic resonance imaging – MRI

An MRI device based on radio waves with a very strong magnetic field is used to display detailed images of the brain, which can detect abnormalities in the structure of the brain that may cause epileptic seizures.

Fillings used in cementing teeth or bridges used in orthodontics may give a false image, so you must inform the radiologist of its presence in your mouth before starting the examination.

4. Positron emission tomography – PET

This examination is performed by injecting a radioactive substance into a vein in order to display the active areas inside the brain. The radioactive substance can be identified by the way it binds to glucose, because the brain uses glucose to produce energy, the parts of the active areas in the brain appear in the image in a lighter color.

5. Single photon emission computed tomography – SPECT

This test is primarily used in people who are being examined for their suitability for surgical treatment of epilepsy when the areas in the brain responsible for seizures are not clearly visible on MRI and EEG scans.

Epilepsy treatment

Here are the ways to treat epilepsy:

1. Pharmacotherapy

More than half of the children who received drugs for epilepsy may eventually be able to stop taking the drugs to live a normal life without seizures, and a large number of adults with epilepsy will be able to stop taking the drugs if more than two years have passed since the last seizure. .

Treating epilepsy with the right medication and the right dose can be a complex task. Your doctor is likely to recommend a specific medication at a relatively low dose, and then gradually increase the dose until seizures can be controlled. If a patient with epilepsy has tried two drugs alone without success, the treating doctor may recommend a combination of the two drugs. .

All anti-seizure drugs have side effects that may include: mild fatigue, dizziness and weight gain, and more severe symptoms may also appear, such as: depression, rash , loss of coordination, problems with speaking and speech, and extreme tiredness .

In order to control epileptic seizures, the medicine should be taken according to what the doctor prescribes, and to maintain constant contact and consultation with the treating doctor. The doctor should also be informed of all the medicines taken.

If treatment for epilepsy with medications to suppress seizures doesn’t work, or you don’t have satisfactory results, your doctor may recommend other treatments, such as surgery, radiotherapy, or a high-fat diet.

2. Surgical treatment of epilepsy

Surgical epilepsy treatment is often recommended when tests indicate that the seizure source is concentrated in a small and specific area of ​​the temporal lobes in the brain, and surgical treatment of epilepsy is recommended in rare cases if the seizure source is distributed in several different regions of the brain or if The source of the seizures is in an area of ​​the brain that contains vital functional parts.

Epilepsy prevention

Here are some tips that may help reduce the risk of having a seizure:

  • Get enough sleep every night.
  • Learn stress management and relaxation techniques.
  • Avoid drugs and alcohol.
  • Take all of your medications as prescribed by your doctor.
  • Avoid bright lights and other visual stimuli.
  • Skip TV and computer time whenever possible.
  • Avoid playing video games.
  • Follow a healthy diet.

Alternative therapies

Epilepsy cannot be treated with herbs.

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