Question
What are the causes and types of epilepsy?
Answer
Epilepsy is a neurological disease that causes individuals to have recurrent unprovoked seizures, meaning we don't know what has caused them. Thirty percent of the children that are diagnosed continue to have repeated seizures into adulthood. The good news is that 70% of children that are diagnosed with epilepsy can improve over time. Their little brains grow, develop, and mature and things can get better. If epilepsy starts before age 18 it is considered a developmental disability. Anytime you have a seizure and if you have recurrent seizures, it affects the brain. Depending on where it occurs, such as the speech center, memory center, or learning center, it can cause developmental disabilities.
Statistics
Here are some statistics about epilepsy. Worldwide, 65 million people have epilepsy. That includes 3.4 million people just in the US. There are 150,000 new cases diagnosed each year, with close to a half a million of those cases being children and youth in the United States. Epilepsy can affect anyone, it doesn't matter who you are. It's a syndrome associated with other health problems, so an individual may already have some cognitive or neurological problems or psychiatric problems such as mental illness. It also is associated with learning difficulties and psychological and social problems.
Common Causes
For many, the cause of epilepsy is unknown. In fact, only about half of individuals that are diagnosed with epilepsy know the cause. Knowing the cause can help the doctors and parents understand what is to be expected over time. Some of the reasons that epilepsy can occur are brain trauma, brain tumors, and brain infections. My husband had brain trauma because he had brain surgery to remove a brain tumor that was pushing on the area of his brain that controlled the left side of his body. He became paralyzed on the left side after the surgery to remove the tumor and after the trauma of the surgery. He's been on AEDs, or anti-epileptic drugs, for some time. Brain injury at birth can cause epilepsy This can include babies being born with a lack of oxygen or external forces like forceps, things like that put pressure on their tiny heads and their brain. There can be changes in brain development that cause epilepsy. Stroke can also cause epilepsy. One in every 4,000 newborn births has a stroke. A stroke is among the top 10 causes of death in children. Genetics, including a history of epilepsy in the family, is another cause.
Types
Here is a selection of types of epilepsy, including some common ones.
- Temporal epilepsy occurs in the temporal lobes of the brain responsible for learning and memory. The temporal lobes are located on your temples between your ears and eyes.
- Intractable epilepsy is when a person's seizures fail to come under control with treatment.
- Reflex epilepsy is when specific triggers bring on seizures, such as cold temperatures, stress, or other things.
- Psychomotor epilepsy is typically limited to the temporal lobe of the brain and results in impairments of responsiveness and being aware of one's surroundings.
- Photosensitive epilepsy is when seizures are triggered by flashing lights or contrasting light and dark patterns. Sometimes you'll see this on video games, movies, or television shows and they'll give you an alert to let you know that there could be lights and distractors on the TV that could cause a seizure.
- Post-traumatic epilepsy is a recurrent disorder resulting from injury to the brain, such as surgery, concussions, and things of that nature.
