Potential Causes of Epilepsy

Newborns

• Brain malformations
• Lack of oxygen during, or before delivery, or at birth.
• Low levels of blood sugar, blood calcium, blood magnesium or other electrolyte disturbances
• Inborn errors of metabolism (chemical disorders)
• Intracranial hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain)
• Maternal drug use

Infection (meningitis)

• Infants and Children
• Fever (febrile seizures)
• Brain tumor (rarely)
• Infections
• Brain Malformation

Children and Adults

• Congenital conditions (Down syndrome; Angelman's syndrome; tuberous sclerosis and neurofibromatosis)
• Genetic factors (Primary seizure disorders)
• Progressive brain disease (rare)
• Head trauma

Elderly

• Stroke
• Alzheimer's disease
• Head trauma

First Aid for Seizures (Convulsions, Generalized Tonic-Clonic, Grand Mal)

First Aid for Seisures (Complex Partial, Psychomotor, Temperol Lobe)

What is Epilepsy?

Epilepsy is a medical condition that produces seizures affecting a variety of mental and physical functions. It’s also called a seizure disorder. When a person has two or more unprovoked seizures, they are considered to have epilepsy.

A seizure happens when a brief, strong surge of electrical activity affects part or all of the brain. One in 10 adults will have a seizure sometime during their life.

Seizures can last from a few seconds to a few minutes. They can have many symptoms, from convulsions and loss of consciousness to some that are not always recognized as seizures by the person experiencing them or by health care professionals: blank staring, lip smacking, or jerking movements of arms and legs.