Diabete

Epilepsy Article Review

Essential Anatomy and Physiology

Instructor Dr. B

Feb12th, 2011

Zaka Mahmood

Epilepsy is a seizure disorder that involves the loss of consciousness and repetitive muscle jerking called convulsion due to a sudden change in electrical activity of the brain. There are about 20 different seizures and about 2% of the general population and one in ten Americans experience at least one epileptic seizure once in their life. About 125,000 new cases of epilepsy are diagnosed in the united states each year, and a quarter of those are younger than five years old.

The two most common epilepsies are called tonic-clonic seizures and absence seizures. About 90% of the people with epilepsy experience tonic-clonic seizures, and 25% experience absence seizures. 20% or less experiences other form of epilepsy.

The brain contains nerve cells constantly communicate by sending chemical signal, and electric current among themselves, but if the electric currents get disrupted then the brain send out irregular messages to the rest of the body resulting in random muscle contraction and relaxation that brings the symptoms of epilepsy. 25% of epilepsy is classified as symptomatic where the cause is known (infection, trauma, drug allergy, and stroke), and 75% of the cases is idiopathic which has no known cause.

Tonic-clonic seizures has a warning called aura before it happens, during aura, patients emit a loud cry. The patient loses consciousness and falls to the ground, the body becomes rigid for 30 seconds. The muscles then contract and relax alternately causing trouble breathing, lose control of bladder and bowels. Tonic-clonic attacks lasts for two to five minutes.

Absence seizure is a milder and usually begins with a brief loss of consciousness which lasts between one to ten seconds. Patients may be quiet, stare blankly, roll their eyes or move their lips. After the attack, patients don’t remember anything or they may not realize that...