Question 2 of 21

What are the known causes of epilepsy?

... Permanent injury or changes in brain tissue can cause epilepsy, but most people with epilepsy have no brain abnormalities. Seizures caused by temporary conditions such as low blood sugar or drug use are not considered epileptic.

Question 3 of 21

What determines the type of seizure a person experiences?

... Seizures vary greatly. The type of seizure is determined by the part of the brain affected and the cause of the seizures.

Question 4 of 21

How does a brain malfunction cause seizures?

... The brain's electrical system does not discharge energy, but keeps firing, sending uncontrolled surges of energy through the brain.

Question 5 of 21

What type of seizure affects both of the brain's hemispheres?

... Generalized seizues, while subdivided into several types, all produce loss of consciousness.

Question 6 of 21

What is another name for tonic-clonic seizures?

... Usually called grand mal seizures, these may be characterized by stiffening of the limbs (tonic phase), followed by jerking (clonic phase).

Question 7 of 21

What are petit mal seizures sometimes called?

... Petit mal seizures, also known as absence seizures, are very brief lapses of awareness. They may occur 50 to 100 times a day.

Question 8 of 21

What are prolonged seizures called?

... Most seizures are infrequent and last no more than two minutes. But sometimes, in a condition called status epilepticus, they are so frequent as to be almost continuous.

Question 9 of 21

Is epilepsy inherited?

... Certain types of epilepsy do seem to be inherited. People who experience grand mal seizures are more likely to have family members with this type of epilepsy than people with other types of epilepsy.

Question 10 of 21

What does an electroencephalogram (EEG) examine?

... Doctors look for abnormalities in brain waves with an electroencephalograph (EEG) to help determine if a patient has epilepsy. They also examine the brain with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computerized tomography (CT).

Question 11 of 21

What is the name for the group of epilepsy syndromes that require certain triggers for seizures to occur?

... Some people can experience seizures in response to senory stimuli, such as flashing lights or even reading. This is called reflex epilepsy.

Question 12 of 21

What location-related epilepsy is the most difficult to control by medication?

... Seizures originate in the midline temporal structure of the brain in temporal lobe epilepsy. Most adults whose seizures can't be controlled with medicine have this type of epilepsy.

Question 13 of 21

Which of these people would most likely be put on medication after a single seizure?

... Doctors like to wait and see before starting medication, due to the possibility of side effects. However, an elderly person who might break a bone during a fall would be a good candidate for medication after only one seizure.

Question 14 of 21

If medication is not successful at relieving seizures, what is the next treatment option?

... Surgery to remove the part of the brain where the seizures originate has become common and has proven successful.

Question 15 of 21

What can be stimulated to prevent seizures?

... Small bursts of electricity travel to the brain along the vagus nerve, sent from a battery implanted in the patient's chest. Doctors aren't exactly sure why this blocks seizures, but it does.

Question 16 of 21

What is the ketogenic diet?

... The high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet has been successful in treating seizures in two out of three children and has totally eliminated seizures in one out of three.

Question 17 of 21

What is more common in children with epilepsy than in the general population?

... Both autism and ADHD are more common in children with epilepsy.

Question 18 of 21

Do epilepsy symptoms ever go away?

... Several types of childhood epilepsy improve or disappear with age. Also, some adults may be able to stop medication after remaining free of seizures for several years.

Question 19 of 21

Who disputed the notion that epilepsy was a disease caused by the gods?

... Hippocrates wrote the first book on epilepsy, which was called "On the Sacred Disease." He said it was not a sign of prophetic power or a curse, but merely a brain disorder.

Question 20 of 21

When and where did the modern study of epilepsy begin?

... Three English neurologists -- John Hughlings Jackson, Russell Reynolds and Sir William Richard Gowers -- began the modern study of epilepsy in the mid-1800s.

Question 21 of 21

What military leader probably suffered from complex partial seizures?

... Caesar had four documented episodes, plus a family history of seizures. While some historians have said Alexander had epilepsy, there is no evidence.

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