Epilepsy, which can be seen at any age, affects approximately 5 per thousand of the population. Having a family history of epilepsy, head trauma or any form of damage to the brain are among the risk factors.
The signs and symptoms of epilepsy vary greatly, and in some patients it may be in the form of seizures such as squinting and staring, and in others, it may be in the form of very severe convulsions. Some patients can sense the coming of a seizure in the form of a smell, a different sensation, or emotional changes before the seizure.
While epilepsy can be a chronic, life-long disease, the need for medication in some people may decrease over the years and may disappear completely. While some childhood epilepsies improve with age, death or brain damage due to seizures is extremely rare. However, if the seizure lasts too long or if multiple seizures occur in a very short time, the patient may die. Death or severe brain damage may occur due to lack of oxygen due to not being able to breathe for a very long time during a seizure. Since life-threatening situations may occur if a seizure occurs while driving or working with dangerous equipment, epilepsy patients whose seizures cannot be controlled should not be driven and employed in dangerous jobs. In addition, since most epilepsy drugs can cause congenital anomalies, it is important for women who are considering pregnancy to discuss this with their physician.
The main thing in the diagnosis process is to take a careful history. While electroencephalographic (EEG) examination may show the presence of convulsion foci in the brain, the EEG may be normal between seizures, and therefore, long-term EEG may be required. In order to understand the internal disorders that trigger epilepsy, blood biochemistry and hormone tests together with Computerized Brain Tomography (CBT), Brain MRI, and if infections such as meningitis are suspected, it is necessary to perform an additional cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination and see the results.
If an underlying cause (treatment of infections, brain tumor or surgical treatment of other brain diseases) has been identified for recurrent seizures in the treatment of epilepsy, treating this cause will prevent epilepsy. Unless the underlying cause is treated, the effect of epilepsy drugs is limited to a certain extent. While trying to control seizures with oral medications, it should be kept in mind that individual dose adjustments should be made. While the type of drug taken varies according to the type of seizure, the blood levels of some drugs may need to be carefully monitored and adjusted.
Although many drugs are used in some patients, seizures cannot be controlled and it is called resistant epilepsy. In this case, a surgical intervention may be required to remove the abnormal cells that cause the seizures. In some patients, seizures can be prevented by stimulating the vagus nerve with a stimulant device.
Proper nutrition and adequate sleep, avoidance of alcohol and drugs, can reduce the occurrence of seizures in epileptic patients
Seizures are true seizures, no pseudo-seizures, the patient has tried standard medical treatment and has not benefited from it, his body against drugs is severe Epilepsy surgery can be considered as a result of the council’s decision, if the seizures always start in one side of the brain, if the seizures start in the brain, if there is no relation with important functions such as speech, memory and vision.
