Epilepsy

Question: What does epilepsy have to do with alcohol consumption? Why do they ask you if you have epilepsy when they pull you over for DUI? What happens if you DO have epilepsy, and you take medicine for this disorder. Also, does taking a anti-narcolepsy drug have any effect on driving?

Answer: Epilepsy and alcohol consumption affects if the medication you're taking for epilepsy will work. I don't know why coppers ask your 1st question,but you CAN get a license to drive if you haven't had any seizures in 2 years and they are controlled by medicine. The only effect taking a anti-narcolepsy drug has on your driving or on you to be exact is it may make you sleepy.

Question: Epilepsy agency needs tag line to help recruit volunteers? We are a non-profit agency dedicated to improving the lives of people living with epilepsy. We do this through such things as support groups, counselling and education programs. I need a catchy tag line to use in a poster I'm designing to recruit volunteers for our agency. Your ideas are much appreciated. Thanks.

Answer: Come join our community's shakers and movers.

Question: What is Epilepsy and what is the treatment for it? What is epilepsy and what is the treatment for it I do take medication I do suffer from migraines as well. I have grand mal seizures. I also have petti Mal and partical seizures. What are all the treatmeats for my condition.

Answer: Epilepsy (sometimes referred to as a seizure disorder) is a common chronic neurological condition that is characterized by recurrent unprovoked epileptic seizures. It affects approximately 50 million people worldwide.[1] It is usually controlled, but not cured, with medication – although surgery may be considered in difficult cases. Treatment Epilepsy is usually treated with medication prescribed by a physician; primary caregivers, neurologists, and neurosurgeons all frequently care for people with epilepsy. In some cases the implantation of a stimulator of the vagus nerve, or a special diet can be helpful. Neurosurgical operations for epilepsy can be palliative, reducing the frequency or severity of seizures; or, in some patients, an operation can be curative. [edit] Responding to a seizure In most cases, the proper emergency response to a generalized tonic-clonic epileptic seizure is simply to prevent the patient from self-injury by moving him or her away from sharp edges, placing something soft beneath the head, and carefully rolling the person onto his or her side to avoid asphyxiation. Should the person regurgitate, the material should be allowed to drip out the side of the patient's mouth by itself. If the seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes, Emergency Medical Services should be contacted. Prolonged seizures may develop into status epilepticus, a dangerous condition requiring hospitalization and emergency treatment. Objects should never be placed in a person's mouth during a seizure as this could result in injury to the person's mouth or obstruction of the airway. Despite common folklore, it is not possible for a person to swallow their own tongue during a seizure. After a seizure, it is typical for a person to be confused, disoriented, and possibly agitated or sleepy. It is important to stay with the person until this passes; people should not eat or drink until they have returned to their normal level of awareness, and they should not be allowed to wander about unsupervised. Many patients will sleep deeply for a few hours after a seizure; this is not dangerous. In about 50% of people with epilepsy, headaches may occur after a seizure. These headaches share many features with migraines, and respond to the same medications. If it seems to have been a first seizure, it is likely to be noticeably helpful to make a written or otherwise recorded note of the sequence and nature of events. The doctor deciding on further management will probably find this helpful. [edit] Pharmacologic treatment Some medications can be taken daily in order to prevent seizures altogether or reduce the frequency of their occurrence. These are termed "anticonvulsant" or "antiepileptic" drugs (sometimes AEDs). All such drugs have side effects which are idiosyncratic and others which are dose-dependent; it is not possible to predict who will suffer from side effects or at what dose the side effects will appear. Some people with epilepsy will experience a complete remission when treated with an anticonvulsant medication. If this does not occur, the dose of medication may be increased, or another medication may be added to the first. The general strategy is to increase the medication dose until either the seizures are controlled, or until dose-limiting side effects appear; at which point the medication dose is reduced to the highest amount that did not produce undesirable side effects. Serum levels of AEDs can be checked to determine medication compliance and to assess the effects of drug-drug interactions; serum levels are generally not useful to predict anticonvulsant efficacy in an individual patient, though in some cases (such as a seizure flurry) it can be useful to know if the level is very high or very low. If a person's epilepsy cannot be brought under control after adequate trials of two different drugs, that person's epilepsy is generally said to be 'medically refractory.' Various drugs may prevent seizures or reduce seizure frequency: these include carbamazepine (common brand name Tegretol), clobazam (Frisium), clonazepam (Klonopin), ethosuximide (Zarontin), felbamate (Felbatol), fosphenytoin (Cerebyx), flurazepam (Dalmane), gabapentin (Neurontin), lamotrigine (Lamictal), levetiracetam (Keppra), oxcarbazepine (Trileptal), mephenytoin (Mesantoin), phenobarbital (Luminal), phenytoin (Dilantin), pregabalin (Lyrica), primidone (Mysoline), sodium valproate (Epilim), tiagabine (Gabitril), topiramate (Topamax), valproate semisodium (Depakote), valproic acid (Depakene, Convulex), and vigabatrin (Sabril). Other drugs are commonly used to abort an active seizure or interrupt a seizure flurry; these include diazepam (Valium) and lorazepam (Ativan). Drugs used only in the treatment of refractory status epilepticus include paraldehyde (Paral) and pentobarbital (Nembutal). Bromides were the first of the effective anticonvulsant pure compounds, but are no longer used in humans[6] due to their toxicities and low efficacy. [edit] Surgical treatment Surgical treatment can be an option for epilepsy when an underlying brain abnormality, such as a benign tumor or an area of scar tissue (e.g. hippocampal sclerosis) can be identified. The abnormality must be removable by a neurosurgeon. Surgery is usually only offered to patients when their epilepsy has not been controlled by adequate attempts with multiple medications. Before surgery is offered, the medical team conducts many tests to assess whether removal of brain tissue will result in unacceptable problems with memory, vision, language or movement, which are controlled by different parts of the brain. These tests usually include a neuropsychological evaluation, which sometimes includes an intracarotid sodium amobarbital test (Wada test). Resective surgery, as opposed to palliative, successfully eliminates or significantly reduces seizures in about 50-90% of the patients who undergo it (the exact percentage depends on the particulars of the case in question.) Many patients decide not to undergo surgery owing to fear or the uncertainty of having a brain operation. The most common form of resective surgical treatment for epilepsy is to remove the front part of either the right or left temporal lobe. A study of 48 patients who underwent this operation, anterior temporal lobectomy, between 1965 and 1974 determined the long-term success of the procedure. Of the 48 patients, 21 had had no seizures that caused loss of consciousness since the operation. Three others had been free of seizures for at least 19 years. The rest had either never been completely free of seizures or had died between the time of the surgery and commencement of the study.[7] Palliative surgery for epilepsy is intended to reduce the frequency or severity of seizures. Examples are callosotomy or commissurotomy to prevent seizures from generalizing (spreading to involve the entire brain), which results in a loss of consciousness. This procedure can therefore prevent injury due to the person falling to the ground after losing consciousness. It is performed only when the seizures cannot be controlled by other means. Resective surgery can be considered palliative if it is undertaken with the expectation that it will reduce but not eliminate seizures. Hemispherectomy is a drastic operation in which most or all of one half of the cerebral cortex is removed. It is reserved for people suffering from the most catastrophic epilepsies, such as those due to Rasmussen syndrome. If the surgery is performed on very young patients (2-5 years old), the remaining hemisphere may acquire some rudimentary motor control of the ipsilateral body; in older patients, paralysis results on the side of the body opposite to the part of the brain that was removed. Because of these and other side effects it is usually reserved for patients who have exhausted other treatment options. [edit] Other treatment Ketogenic diets may occasionally be effective in controlling some types of epilepsy; although the mechanism behind the effect is not fully understood, shifting of pH towards a metabolic acidosis and alteration of brain metabolism may be involved. Ketogenic diets are high in fat and extremely low in carbohydrates, with intake of fluids often limited. This treatment, originated as early as the 1920s at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, was largely abandoned with the discovery of modern anti-epileptic drugs, but recently has returned to the anti-epileptic treatment arsenal. Ketogenic diets are sometimes prescribed in severe cases where drugs have proven ineffective. There are several downsides to what initially seems a benign therapy, however. The ketogenic diet is not good for the heart or kidneys and medical problems resulting from the diet have been reported. In addition, the diet is extremely unpalatable and few patients are able to tolerate it for any length of time. Since a single potato chip is adequate to break the ketosis, staying on the diet requires either great willpower or perfect control of a person's dietary intake. People fed via gastrostomy or young children who receive all their food in the presence of a caregiver are better candidates. Vagus nerve stimulation is a recently developed form of seizure control which uses an implanted electrical device, similar in size, shape and implant location to a heart pacemaker, which connects to the vagus nerve in the neck. Once in place the device can be set to emit electronic pulses, stimulating the vagus nerve at pre-set intervals and milliamp levels. Treatment studies have shown that approximately 50% of those treated in this fashion will show significant seizure reduction. Some people with epilepsy receive a special dog which has the rare talent of sensing the onset of a seizure and is trained to alert the human so they can reach a safe location before their seizure puts them in danger. Other epilepsy care dogs do not sense seizures, but serve as companions and guardians during the loss of consciousness accompanying a seizure. The Institutes for The Achievement of Human Potential promulgate a home program consisting of a healthy diet, clean air, and respiratory training. This alternative approach is regarded as dangerous and without value by most medical practitioners. Magnesium and vitamin B6 exerted a positive non-specific influence on the mental states of patients with epilepsy, depression and anxiety during an experiment.[8] A number of systematic reviews by the Cochrane Collaboration into treatments for epilepsy looked at acupuncture[9], psychological interventions[10], vitamins[11] and yoga[12] and found there is no reliable evidence to support the use of these as treatments for epilepsy. More on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy#Treatment

Question: Can Epilepsy affect what subjects at school your good at at? I have epilepsy and I'm quite good at most subjects (my best being history,RE and English).But I am terrible at Pyschics and Math. Has this got anything to do with my Epilepsy or am I just not good at the subjects?

Answer: epilepsy does not have any affect on specific brain parts related to learning. some people are just "math" people and some people are more "verbal" people which it sounds like you are. i've read studies where it states that in general, men are better in math and science whereas girls are better at reading/writing. lately this is the subject of some debate because there are females good in math/science...it is just that traditionally women were never encouraged to be strong in these areas. if you are getting poor grades in those areas, you might want to consider tutoring or getting help for those subjects. i know i am absolutely terrible at math and needed math tutoring my whole academic career. congratulations to you for working hard in school! hope this helps. alicia

Question: I used to have epilepsy when i was a child, am i disqualified to fly helicopters? I havent had a seizure in over 10 years, i was wondering if there is an time limit that allows me to fly, or if having epilepsy at one point elimates all chances.

Answer: Epilepsy is a disqualifying condition for any class of airman medical certificate, but it's still possible to get a special issuance medical certificate. These are issued on a case-by-case basis. Since you have been asymptomatic for over 10 years, it *might* be possible (I'm not a doctor or an AME, so don't take my word as absolute truth) to get a special issuance certificate. You will probably have to undergo extensive testing by a neurologist and have the results forwarded to the FAA Federal Flight Surgeon for consideration to issue the medical certificate.

Question: Can a man suffering from Epilepsy be able to release sperms which will help in reproduction? There is a guy who is suffering from Epilepsy since the age of 11 .Now he is married to my friend and they are planning to have a baby.So I wanted to know if the guy will be able to reproduce?

Answer: There should be no problem with his sperm.

Question: What would happen if someone with epilepsy was bitten by a deadly venomous snake or spider? Would the symptoms or affects be different? If they did not noticed the bite, could the affects resemble symptoms of their epilepsy?

Answer: I think the only difference would be the stress on the body from the bite could cause the person to have a seizure.

Question: Can epilepsy cause someone to withdraw from intimate contact? My friend has has epilepsy since childhood. A few years ago he suffered a Grand mal seizure. He is now in his late 40's. Is it possible that this has caused him to withdraw from any intimate contact or any display of affection?

Answer: Not sure. I would say the epilepsy, itself, is not causing that, but after all these years could have been detrimental to his self-esteem, embarrassing, not to mention extremely worrisome and scary. It seems I once read that epileptics are more prone to depression, and that's what this could be.

Question: How was Epilepsy regarded and treated during the Renaissance? I know that in the Shakespearean play Othello had epilepsy, although he is a fictional character. As did Aristotle and Napolean...how did they treat it?

Answer: 1494: A handbook on witch-hunting, Malleus Maleficarum, brings a wave of persecution and torture, leading to the death of more than 200,000 women. Written by two Dominican friars under papal authority, the book identifies the presence of seizures as a characteristic of witches. http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/history.html While this doesn't mention Aristotle or Napolean, it does mention treatment during the times they lived.

Question: What would be a good symbol for epilepsy? To the best of my knowledge, there is no national symbol for epilepsy. What do you think would be a symbol? (If there is a national symbol, please let me know) Thanks!

Answer: the epilepsy ribbon (like the cancer one but for epilepsy) by the way I think some of these answers are VERY RUDE I have epilepsy! Think about people who have this condition before you answer a question like this

Question: epilepsy...? what are the specific reasons as to why some people with epilepsy can't have caffiene? or they can't ride in airplanes or on rollercoasters? i know basic reasons, but i don't know how they can cause the seizures.

Answer: The thing is, epilepsy has no set rules. We can have similar type seizures, but beyond that we're completely individual in our experiences with medications, restrictions and triggers. Some of us fine with moderate caffine intakes, other can have a seizure after just one coffee. Same with alcohol, Sure we can fly unless the epilepsy is really severe, just so long as we get enough sleep and keep hydrated. Jetlag can trigger szs. Never heard about rollar coaters. Most of us will avoid rides that involve strobe lights. Heights have to always be considered as a potetial injury risk in the event of a seizure, so rollercoasters might qualify there. Most of us find out by trial and error what our seizure triggers and avoidance situations are.

Question: What is the best way to collect donations for the Epilepsy Foundation? I so far have $600 in donations that all go to the Epilepsy Foundation, including $30 of my own money. I was wondering if there are better ways instead of emailing or talking on the phone to ask if people would be willing to donate to this Foundation?

Answer: organise fish fry dinners, pancake dinners and with the right crowd you would get surprised about your collections.

Question: How dangerous is it to take ecstasy if you have epilepsy? I have mild epilepsy. Would it be dangerous to take ecstasy once? Is it best to take the latest dose of AED before having ecstasy?

Answer: It is dangerous to take ecstasy if you are a human. About 70 users die each year in the UK.

Question: What are the symptoms of epilepsy in dogs? Hi, I was wondering if anyone that has epilepsy in dogs could let me know if my dog has it. It was in the middle of the night, my dog awoke to crawl under the covers and when doing it I heard almost like a cough. Then he just fell motionless and like dead weight. It was like he had died. It took about 5-10 sec before he awoke and was like nothing had happened. I am wondering if your dog has ever experienced this and would like to let me know. He is currently 9 months old. He is a Chinese Crested

Answer: The one more major symptom would be seizures. Seizures can manifest in different ways, from looking dazed and confused, to a huge grand mall seizure where they flop around uncontrollably. If he did just "fall unconscious" I would have him checked out, though he might have just been sleeping. Keep a good eye on him. Watch him through the day, if he has bouts of confusion, staring, or his eyes start shaking or wiggling back and forth and he seems dazed. He could be having a series of very small seizures, and that can be controlled pretty well with medications. TOO ADD: Is he a little dog breed? like a tiny one? Chi or Poodle or something? The coughing and collapsing can be caused by a genetic condition called Collapsed Trachea, which is a common ailment, its usually not severe to cause too many problems but some may have it so bad that it cuts of oxygen for a short time and he might have just, as you said, have passed out for a short time because of it. Either way its time for a good check up. Insist that they look him over thoroughly.

Question: What is the neurological reason for epilepsy? I know the symptoms of epilepsy, but what happens to the brain and nerves to cause the symptoms?

Answer: wave of depolarization firing off to frequently across the membranes of neuronal cells.

Question: What kind of things can aggravate epilepsy? I know flashing lights definitely can and I think my old neurologist may have said something about hot baths but I really want to stay away from anything that will cause me to have seizures of any kind. Any foods, behaviors, anything that could make my epilepsy go on the fritz.

Answer: Different people have different triggers. My son's is caused by sleep deprivation. You need a minimum of 8 hours sleep a night. Seizures can also be due to lack of regular meals. You want to make sure you eat regular meals and snacks and drink lots of liquids. My Neurologist said it best... treat yourself like you deserve to be treated. Eat well, sleep well, avoid alcohol and drugs (including pot which is a trigger for lots of people, flashing lights. Your doctor told you to stay away from baths because of the danger if you have a seizure in the bathtub. Bathing in and of itself does not cause seizures. Good luck... take your medication!