Jamie, a 13 year old boy, was a huge fan of racing games. One day, he sat down to play one of his many games on his laptop. As the game loaded, he plugged in the charger. He sat down, about to begin the race. The next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground surrounded by his family. What had happened? He had fainted, his mom told him, possibly due to being careless while connecting the charger and getting electrocuted.
He had another episode as lay down at night. He was convulsing violently and seemed to be unconscious. His worried parents took him to the neurologist. He was diagnosed with epilepsy and was prescribed with medications for the next few years.
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION:-
And poor Jamie got diagnosed with epilepsy. Now, what exactly is it? Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological (nerve related) disorder in the world. It is characterized by recurring seizures. The types of seizures in an epileptic person varies widely; some may not even notice it, some may show altered senses (no, it does not involve X-Ray vision) while others may show total loss of consciousness and convulsions, depending on which part of the brain is affected.
Since the brain is affected, any function may be altered; some signs and symptoms observed are:-
- Altered senses
- Random muscle twitches
- Brief periods of confusion
- Long staring
- Fear, anger, déjà vu or other psychic disturbances.
CAUSES:-
Now, onto how you can get it:-
- Stroke – Blood supply to a certain area of the brain is cut off, damaging the neurons.
- Infections such as meningitis, encephalitis.
- Trauma to the head – For example, a person who has had a road accident with a bad head injury.
- Congenital defects (birth defects)
- Prenatal injury
- Conditions which affect the brain such as Alzheimer’s disease. It may also be seen in autistic kids.
It is NOT contagious. You don’t need to worry about hanging around your epileptic friend!
DIAGNOSIS:-
How is it diagnosed? Having a single seizure does not mean you are an epileptic. In fact, many people undergo at least one seizure in their lifetime. Children with very high fever may also undergo seizures, this need not develop into epilepsy. Usually, a CT scan or MRI scan is done to analyse any structural damages to the brain, hemorrhage or tumors aside from a myriad of tests for assessing the neurons. MRI has better imaging quality, however CT is more sensitive to blood. An EEG (electroencephalogram) is also taken.
POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS:-
And now onto why knowing about this condition is important:-
- It may result in injuries – What if Jamie had been walking down the stairs when the seizure occurred?
- Drowning – Epileptics have a highly increased risk of drowning while swimming/bathing due to the chance of a seizure occurring while in water.
- Accidents – Yep, driving sure is risky. Not only for you but also for your co-passengers and other travellers.
- Psychological effects – It may occur as a direct effect of the disease or due to the reactions of the people towards it, more details on that below.
WHAT IF YOU HAVE IT? WHAT NEXT?
Treatment, duh! However epilepsy treatments are symptom oriented than cause oriented. This means that it controls/reduces the seizures but does not eliminate the cause, unlike medications for, say, a bacterial infection. Treatment options include:-
- Medications – It is a long term medication and mostly lifelong.
- Surgery – Surgery is done for some types of epilepsy. The affected part is surgically removed, eg: the hippocampus, or the amygdala.
- Dietary modifications – This is under research, however it remains an option in those whom multiple medications failed to give a satisfactory effect.
- Avoiding of triggers – Noticed the warning sign that comes along with video games? That is pretty relevant here. This method seeks to reduce seizures by eliminating/reducing event that trigger it.
MISCONCEPTIONS AND OTHER ISSUES:-
Being a very old disease as far as recognition goes, it has been surrounded by centuries of misconception.
- It is considered as a valid enough reason for divorce in some parts of the world (India, China), while in other places, epileptics were forbidden from marrying for a long time (UK).
- It is seen as occurring due to witchcraft, possession by spirits/demons/whatever, or as a bad omen in more superstitious regions.
- Epileptics find it difficult to get a driver’s license and are prevented from taking on certain jobs (eg:- pilot).
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 15, which is about 4 years back. I was prescribed medicines and while on medication, I did not have any seizure, or at least any seizure which could be noted. About an year back, I stopped my medication. Since then, I haven’t suffered a major seizure however brief lapses of concentration and a sense of altered reality make me question if it was wise to stop the medication.
SOURCES
https://www.epilepsy.com
https://www.mayoclinic.org
https://pixabay.com - For the photos
Sketches by me
Special thanks to 