GGZ2025 Neuropsychological Disorders vvanbeek
TASK 8 – EPILEPSY
EPILEPSY
Source: www.epilepsy.com and Lecture, 28th of May, 2018
Epilepsy is a chronic disorder, the hallmark of which is recurrent, unprovoked seizures. A
person is diagnosed with epilepsy if they have two unprovoked seizures that were not caused
by some known and reversible medical condition or extremely low blood sugar. When a
seizure occurs, there may be too much or too little activity, causing an imbalance between
exciting and stopping activity.
Some people are aware of the beginning of a seizure, possibly as much as hours or days
before it happens. Some people may not be aware of the beginning and therefore have no
warning. Some people may experience feelings, sensations, or changes in behavior hours or
days before a seizure.
An aura or warning is the first symptom of a seizure and is considered part of the seizure.
Often, the aura is an indescribably feeling. Common symptoms before a seizure are déjà vu,
smells, sounds, visual loss/blurring or fear/panic. Physical symptoms are dizziness, headache,
nausea or numbness in part of the body.
Causes of epilepsy vary by age of the person. Some people with no clear cause may have a
genetic cause. About 3 out of 10 people have a change in the structure of their brains that
causes seizures. Common causes of seizures by age are;
❖ Newborns; brain malformations, lack of oxygen during birth, low levels of blood
sugar, maternal drug use.
❖ Infants and children; fever (febrile seizures), brain tumor or infections.
❖ Children and adults; congenital conditions (Down’s syndrome, tuberous sclerosis),
genetic factors, progressive brain disease or head trauma.
❖ Seniors; stroke, Alzheimer’s disease or head trauma.
There are a lot of risk factors for epilepsy. These include the following; bleeding into the
brain, babies born too small, serious brain injury or lack of oxygen, brain tumors, infections of
the brain, cerebral palsy, family history of epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, Autism Spectrum
Disorder, fever-related seizures, use of illegal drugs or mild head injuries.
Seizure triggers can precipitate or provoke seizures. These triggers may make a person with
epilepsy more likely to have a seizure in certain situations. Some triggers are;
1) Missed medication.
2) Lack of sleep or disrupted sleep.
3) Illness.
4) Psychological stress.
5) Heavy alcohol use or use of drugs.
6) Flashing lights or patterns.
7) Poor eating habits.
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, GGZ2025 Neuropsychological Disorders vvanbeek
Most children of people with epilepsy do not develop seizures or epilepsy. The risk for
children whose father has epilepsy is only slightly higher, for children whose mother has
epilepsy, the risk is less than 5 in 100.
1) Generalized onset seizures; these affect both sides of the brain or groups of cells on
both hemispheres.
2) Focal onset seizures are used instead of partial. Focal seizures can start in one area or
group of cells in one side of the brain. When a person is awake and aware during a
seizure, it is called a focal aware seizure. When a person is confused or their
awareness is affected in some way, it is called a focal impaired awareness seizure.
3) Unknown onset seizures. As more information is learned, an unknown onset seizure
may later be diagnosed as a focal or generalized seizure.
Many different symptoms happen during a seizure. The classification separates them simply
into groups that involve movement.
Subtype Symptoms
Generalized Motor symptoms may include sustained rhythmical jerking movements
onset seizures (clonic), muscles becoming weak or limp (atonic), muscles becoming tense
or rigid (tonic), brief muscle twitching (myoclonic), or epileptic spasms
(body flexes and extends repeatedly).
Non-motor symptoms are usually called absence seizures. These can be
typical or atypical absence seizures (staring spells). Absence seizures can
also have brief twitches (myoclonic) affecting specific parts of the body.
Focal onset Motor symptoms may also include jerking (clonic), muscles becoming
seizures limp or weak (atonic), tense or rigid muscles (tonic), brief muscle
twitching (myoclonic), or epileptic spasms. There may also be
automatisms or repeated automatic movements, like clapping, rubbing
hands, or running.
Non-motor symptoms can be changes in sensations, emotions, thinking or
cognition, autonomic functions or lack of movement.
Unknown Motor seizures are described as either tonic-clonic or epileptic spasms.
onset seizures
Non-motor seizures usually include a behavior arrest; movement stops.
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