Epilepsy - Symptoms and Causes

Epilepsy refers to a chronic condition in which repeated fits or attacks of unconsciousness occur with or without convulsions.



Known as 'falling sickness' it is a serious disorder of the central nervous system. It occurs in both children and adults. Most attacks however, occur in childhood and in early adult life. Attack rates show a pro¬gressive decline in frequency with age.

Epilepsy is a very ancient disease, which afflicted some of the world's greatest personalities, including Napoleon, Alexander and Julius Ceasar. The actual word "epilepsy" comes from the Greek word, which means, "to seize upon". The ancient people believed that evil spirits entered the body of the persons afflicted, seized upon his soul and threw his body into convulsions.



The Greeks believed that the gods induced this disease. The early Christians blamed the Devil for these convulsions.

Symptoms of Epilepsy:

Epilepsy is recognized by recurrent sudden attacks at irregular intervals. The patients twitch convulsively and fall unconscious to the ground during these attacks, which cause tremendous nervous upheaval. There are two main types of epilepsy known as petit mal and grand mal. Each follows its own specific pattern.

In petit mal, which is a less serious form of epilepsy, an attack comes and goes within a few seconds.



The pa¬tient has a momentary loss of consciousness, with no convulsions except sometimes a slight rigidity, 0r there may be a slight convulsive attack such as a jerk, or move¬ment of the eyes, head, trunk or extremities, with no perceptible loss of consciousness. The patient may not fall. He may suddenly stop what he is doing and there resume it when the attack is over, without even being aware of what has happened. Petit mal attacks may occur at any time in life but are most frequent in children.

The attack in case of grand mal comes with a dramatic effect. There are violent contractions of the arms, legs and body, accompanied by a sudden loss a' consciousness. Before the onset of an attack. Some pa¬tients have a warning or aura in the form of strange sen¬sations such as a current of air or a stream of water flow¬ing over the body, noises, odours and flashes of light. In a typical at Pack, the patient cries out, falls to the ground. Loses consciousness and develops convulsions. With the convulsions may come foaming at the mouth, twitching of the muscles, biting of the tongue, distorted fixation of limbs, rotation of the head and deviation of the eyes. The patient may lose control over his bladder rectal muscles. The attack may last several minutes and is usually follow¬ed by a deep sleep. On waking up. The patient may remember nothing of what happened to him.

People who suffer from epilepsy are not abnormal in any other way. They usually know that fits can be trig¬gered off by particular stimuli. Between epileptic attacks, their brain functions normally.

Causes of Epilepsy:

Epilepsy denotes electrical malfunctioning within the brain due to damage to brain cells or some inherited ab¬normality. There are many causes of epilepsy. Digestive disturbances, intestinal toxemia and a strained nervous condition are very often the main cause of petit mal.



Grand mal usually results from hereditary influences, serious shock or injury to the brain or nervous system. Meningitis, typhoid and other diseases. Attendant with prolonged high temperature can also lead to grand mal.

Epilepsy may be caused by several other factors. It may result from allergic reaction to certain food substances, especially some particular form of protein, which is the main constituent of meat. Circulatory disorders such as hardening of the arteries leading to the brain may also cause epileptic seizures. This type is rare and occurs only in very aged people.

Chronic alcoholism, lead poisoning, cocaine and other such habits can also lead to this disease. Other causes of epileptic seizure include mental conflict, deficient mineral assimilation, particularly of magnesium and calcium and wrong vitamin metabolism. According to some resear¬chers, hypoglycemia or low blood sugar is also involved in most cases of epilepsy.