Epilepsy Awareness Month | A YAC Student Blog
Isabella Luckage is a student at Columbus School for Girls and an active member of the CMAF’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC).
The month of November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month.
What is Epilepsy?
Isabella Luckage
Epilepsy is a disorder that affects the central nervous system. It leads to abnormal brain activity, which can result in seizures, periods of time where someone may act out of character, sensations, and some may experience loss of awareness. Epilepsy is very widespread. According to the World Health Organization, about 50 million people in the world have epilepsy, affecting all sexes, races, ethnicities, and ages.
Epilepsy can look different for everyone. For example, epileptic seizures for one person may include "stare[ing] blankly for a few seconds' whereas other people may experience twitching of their limbs ("Epilepsy" [Mayo Clinic])
Symptoms/Signs of an Epileptic Seizure may include:
Temporary confusion, staring, muscle stiffness, uncontrolled jerking of limbs, loss of consciousness/awareness, and/or psychological symptoms like fear or anxiety. ("Epilepsy" [Mayo Clinic]).
There are two main types of epileptic seizures: focal and generalized.
Focal seizures involve abnormal activity in one part of the brain. There are 2 categories of focal seizures: "without loss of consciousness" and "with impaired awareness".
Generalized seizures involve all parts of the brain, and fall into 6 categories:
Absence seizures: Most common in children. Often only last a few seconds. When someone experiences this type of seizure, they will stare blankly and may or may not experience small body movements(like blinking).
Tonic seizures: Stiffness of muscles, sometimes leading the person to fall down. May cause changes in one's consciousness.
Atonic seizures: This type of seizure leads to a loss of muscle control, particularly in the legs.
Clonic seizures: These seizures include repeated/rhythmic muscle jerking, often in the face, neck, and/or arms.
Myoclonic seizures: Includes sudden jerking or twitching, typically in the upper body and limbs.
Tonic-clonic seizures: These are also sometimes known as grand mal seizures. They typically cause loss of consciousness, body stiffening, shaking, and twitching. One may also lose control of their bladder or bite their tongue during this type of seizure. ("Epilepsy" [Mayo Clinic])
Diagnosis and Treatment:
Typically for someone to be diagnosed with epilepsy, they will need to have had 2 seizures, that do not have another known cause that take place 24 hours or longer apart from one another.
Once someone is diagnosed with epilepsy, they can be treated in a couple different ways. Most people are treated with medicine or surgery to help control their seizures. For some, this will cause their seizures to eventually cease, whereas for others they may have seizures for their whole life. For kids in particular, they may outgrow epilepsy as they age. ("Epilepsy" [Mayo Clinic])
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/epilepsy/symptoms-causes/syc-20350093