by Debbie Roeser

Created on: February 25, 2007   Last Updated: April 18, 2007

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WHAT IS EPILEPSY?
Epilepsy itself is not a disease, but is a symptom of a neurological disorder. This disorder affects the brain and manifests itself in the form of seizures. Most people are not born with this, and fortunately it is treatable-in most cases.

A seizure is a miss firing in the brain.

Seizures can hit anyone under many different conditions:

Examples
As an allergic reaction to some drugs.
As a result of being hit in the head.
Some children suffer them through stimulation(T. V., Nintendo, etc.)
Stress.
Not eating right.
Not enough sleep.

Seizures are most common among the male population, people under twenty years old, and the elderly. Most of the people who have epilepsy will suffer their first seizure before the age of fifteen.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING A SEIZURE?

During a seizure signals from the brain to the nervous system are out of sync. These crazy signals can keep the brain from understanding what the eyes are actually seeing. It is like the person is having a nightmare while fully awake. It can also be seen as hallucinations. Sometimes muscle tone is weakened which can cause the person to fall. Some people just stare, while others loose consciousness all together.

Some seizures may not be caused by epilepsy at all. It is important that if you think you or your children are having any of these symptoms that you see a doctor immediately.

Some of the other reasons that you may be having a seizure are as follows:
Stroke.
Liver or kidney failure.
High fever-usually in small children and commonly referred to as the fever seizure.
Low blood sugar.
Tumor.
Severe infections.

So you see it is important to check with your doctor. There are so many reasons for seizures that it would be difficult for us to guess why. Epilepsy or any one of these diseases that are left untreated could be dangerous and life threatening.

There is so much information on seizures and epilepsy that is important to know and understand that I thought I would break it up into a couple of articles.

Why am I so interested in this. I have two sons with epilepsy. One six-who is not quite controlled yet.(The new medication is doing wonders.) One seventeen-who is finally controlled and God willing will finally be able to drive next year.(Five years seizure free.)

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