What Is Epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a genetic disorder or brain injury (a neurological condition) that causes two or more seizures. There are many causes of epilepsy which vary from neurotransmitters, brain tumors, and brain damage, which can occur from illness or different bodily injuries.
How can it be treated?
Although there are more than 200,000 cases per year in the US, it cannot be cured. With that said, treatment is always an option to help. Anti-seizure drugs help the disease occur less and be easier to live with.
What is it like to live with Epilepsy?
Most tend to inherit epilepsy either as a child or in people an age greater than 60. Since there is no known cure for epilepsy (yet), it is said that it is a lifelong disease.
Like everyone, many people with epilepsy have a significant chance of an entire lifetime. However, some may have an earlier death.
The effect of Epilepsy on the brain:
Epilepsy is known to affect the Temporal Lobes because the brain has electrical rhythms that are prone to an imbalance. Imbalance can be triggered (causing epilepsy) by simple things such as missing medication, not sleeping, consumption of alcohol, and stress, and menstruation in women.
Memory Issues with people who have Epilepsy:
The seizure disorder does have effects on the human body, such as a lack of retrieving declarative memory. This means that one may not be able to retrieve events that have occurred to them, and words or even facts of basic knowledge may be forgotten.
Types of Epilepsy:
Many people are not aware of this, but there are a couple of types of epilepsy that are used to generalize seizures.
The first is called Tonic. Tonic means the muscles can turn stiff.
The second is Atonic (the opposite of Tonic), meaning the muscles relax.
The third is Myoclonic, meaning there are brief short jerks in separate parts of the body.
Finally, the fourth is called Clonic. Clonic is like myoclonic, but instead of brief short jerks/shakes, the shaking occurs for a period of time.
Overall, Epilepsy is a genetic disorder that affects the body, but one can still live a well-balanced life with it.
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