National Centre
for Epilepsy
Manor House,
Church Road,
Malahide,
Co. Dublin
Ireland.
Development Project
Office: 01 845 48 86
E:info@nationalepilepsycentre.ie
for Epilepsy
Manor House,
Church Road,
Malahide,
Co. Dublin
Ireland.
Development Project
Office: 01 845 48 86
E:info@nationalepilepsycentre.ie
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Seizures
'Epilepsy' has been defined as a tendency to have recurrent 'seizures', seizures are sometimes referred to as 'fits'. This happens when the chemical balance in the brain is upset, and there is abnormal firing of nerve cells. It's like an 'electrical storm' in your brain. There are many forms of seizure. During a mild seizure you might lose awareness of where you are and what's going on around you. In a severe seizure, you may lose consciousness. The word 'epilepsy' comes from the Greek epi lambano meaning 'a taking hold of' - hence the word 'seizure'.
Types of seizure
Everybody can have an epilepstic seizure. One in 30 people have a seizure at some time in their life. 30,000 to 40,000 people in Ireland have some from epilepsy. Some from epilepsy has recurrent seizures. This happens because they have a 'low seizure threshold'. There are many causes of epilepsy. In some people the epilepsy is due to a constitutional or genetic (inherited) liability. In other it may be congenital (caused by problems before birth). Epilepsy can also be caused by damage to a localised area of the brain, caused by injury, infection or tumor. In this situation the epilepsy is referred to as 'Symptomatic Epilepsy'. For many people though no cause, at present, has been indentified this is sometimes referred to as 'Idiopathic' or 'Primary' epilepsy.
There are different types of seizures too. Figure 1 summaries the types of seizure, their characteristics, the after-effects and how people can help.
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