Epilepsy

People who have epilepsy suffer from a abnormality of their brain that causes them to have seizures — generalized convulsions of their body (muscle spasms) or more subtle mental or physical behavioral disturbances lasting from seconds to minutes and typically recurring at varying intervals. Some types of seizures manifest as strange sensations or emotional states, and others, unconsciousness.

In technical terms, the U.S. National Library of Medicine defines epilepsy as "a disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of paroxysmal brain dysfunction due to a sudden, disorderly, and excessive neuronal discharge. Epilepsy classification systems are generally based upon: (1) clinical features of the seizure episodes (e.g., motor seizure), (2) etiology (e.g., post-traumatic), (3) anatomic site of seizure origin (e.g., frontal lobe seizure), (4) tendency to spread to other structures in the brain, and (5) temporal patterns."

Treatment

A randomized controlled trial concluded:

• For idiopathic generalised epilepsy or difficult to classify epilepsy, "valproate remains the clinically most effective drug, although topiramate may be a cost-effective alternative for some patients".
• For partial seizures, "lamotrigine may be a clinical and cost-effective alternative to the existing standard drug treatment, carbamazepine"

See also

• Seizure