Epilepsy -What is it?

Epilepsy is a tendency to recurrent seizures which occur due to an abnormal disorganised burst of electrical activity in the brain. Some people refer to these as "fits" but others find the term offensive.

All seizures are not epileptic in origin and a single isolated seizure should not result in a diagnosis of epilepsy.

Epilepsy may be caused by an illness or accident or the cause may be genetic but in many cases the cause is difficult to determine despite many advances in Electro Encephalogram (EEG) techniques and neuro-imaging with CT and MRI Scans. Further details of these are available in the NSE leaflet on Diagnosis www.epilepsynse.org.uk

Epilepsy is not a disease, it is not contagious or infectious and it is not a mental illness. Many people with epilepsy are highly intelligent.

Epilepsy - What it does

A diagnosis of epilepsy will have both a medical and social impact on the patient. For this reason the physician should take much time and many tests before settling on a diagnosis. Whilst this may be frustrating to the patient it is important that the diagnosis is correct.

For up to 70% of patients regular medication can fully control eliminate seizures and for others a surgical operation can do so. For those whose seizures continue the social implications are significant.

Even a single seizure in the last twelve months will mean the person with epilepsy will not be allowed to drive a motor vehicle. For this reason alone the ability to retain a job or find a new one will be much more difficult.

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