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Epliepsy

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Epilepsy is a condition characterized by seizures that result from irregular activity in brain cells. These seizures can last for five minutes or more. Most people associate seizures with collapsing, shaking, and losing consciousness. However, some seizures are milder and include staring spells or rapid blinking.

Epileptic seizures are classified by their location in the brain.

  •    Generalized seizures affect both sides of the brain. They include:
    • Absence or petit-mal seizures cause rapid blinking or a few seconds of staring into space
    • Tonic-clonic or grand-mal seizures cause muscle spasms, loss of consciousness or suddenly crying out 


  • Local or partial seizures are localized to one area of the brain. They include
    • Simple focal seizures cause twitching or changes in sensation
    • Complex focal seizures can leave a person confused and unable to follow directions.


There are also secondary generalized seizures, which begin as focal seizures and then spread to the rest of the brain to become generalized.

Treatments for epilepsy include single medications to control seizures. Some patients are also recommended to follow a ketogenic diet in which they eat high-fat, low-carb foods. Some cases of epilepsy require patients to undergo surgery to remove the parts of the brain with seizure activity. In extreme cases, patients may undergo a surgery known as split-brain surgery, or corpus callosotomy, in which the corpus callosum is cut. This prevents the hemispheres from communication and the seizure from spreading.
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