Epilepsy Awareness Month-Part 3

MYTH #3-THERE IS ALWAYS A MEDICAL CAUSE FOR EPILEPSY AND SEIZURES

Typical medical causes of epilepsy include:

• Imbalance of chemicals within the brain that transmit electrical impulses
• Hereditary causes
• Other medical disorders that cause seizures (brain tumors, lesions, encephalitis)
• Head injury
• Prenatal injury
• Drug/alcohol abuse
• Exposure to lead, carbon monoxide, toxic chemicals

In three-quarters of cases of epilepsy, there is no medical cause.  The person has not experienced any of the causes listed above.  So, clearly it is quite common to experience seizures for which there's no apparent cause.  Add in the fact that their MRI, CAT scan, and EEG are all normal, and the diagnosis of epilepsy can be quite frustrating.  This diagnosis is called idiopathic epilepsy, and this epilepsy usually responds well to medical treatments. 

My daughter's epilepsy has no cause, and with the exception of the drug Trileptal, she has responded well to drug treatments.  At first I was frustrated that no one could tell me why this was happening to her, but after realizing that any causes would be worse than the seizures, I accepted that most of the time her brain functioned normally.  When it didn't, there won't be a reason to explain away the why's. 

My acceptance was helped along by gaining an understanding of what was happening to her brain and body when she began to experience a seizure.  Information quickly becomes your biggest ally and your biggest weapon when you're fighting the battle against epilepsy.