Epilepsy

Epilepsy

In a healthy brain, nerve cells communicate with each other through electrical impulses that work together to control the body. But when those cells, called neurons, misfire or signal abnormally, a person can experience a number of sensations, emotions, behaviors, convulsions, muscle spasms and even loss of consciousness during what's called a seizure. If a person has more than one seizure, she may be suffering from epilepsy, a chronic health condition that can be managed but not always cured.

The symptoms of epilepsy are complex. A seizure can be as subtle as staring off into space for a few moments so that the person experiencing it appears to be daydreaming. Other types of seizures cause more dramatic symptoms, including uncontrollable movements, loss of consciousness and loss of some bodily functions, among other symptoms. These symptoms can be as brief as a few seconds or as long as several minutes.

According to the Epilepsy Foundation and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some 181,000 Americans will learn that they have epilepsy this year, and an estimated 2.5 million are currently living with the disorder. Approximately half of these individuals are women. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, it was estimated that this neurological disease cost approximately $12.5 billion annually in medical costs and lost or reduced earnings and production.

Epilepsy is not contagious nor is it caused by mental illness or retardation. But for most people who suffer from this chronic condition, the stigma associated with it is enormous and affects just about every aspect of life. Family life, driving, employment, social interactions and self-image are just a few lifestyle considerations that confront people with epilepsy. Just the fear of having a seizure produces tremendous ongoing anxiety for some people -- a burden for even those whose seizures are generally well controlled with medication.

There is no single cause of epilepsy. Some of the known causes include:

• injury to the brain before, during or after birth
• infections that damage the brain
• toxic substances that affect the brain
• injury and lack of oxygen to the brain
• disturbance in blood circulation to the brain (stroke and other vascular problems)
• metabolism or nutritional imbalance
• tumors of the brain
• genetic or hereditary abnormalities
• high fever
• other degenerative diseases
• malformation of the brain

Seizures can be triggered by a variety of things, such as lack of sleep, alcohol consumption or hormonal changes associated with the menstrual cycle. Although these triggers don't cause epilepsy, they can provoke seizures. Sleep deprivation is perhaps the most powerful trigger of all.

Epilepsy and Reproductive Health Issues.

Epilepsy is associated with many reproductive health issues for women. Reproductive hormones (estrogen and progesterone) can have a strong impact on the frequency and severity of seizures. Many women experience changes in their seizure patterns at times of hormonal fluctuations such as puberty, ovulation, at the beginning of menstruation, pregnancy and even at menopause. This hormone-seizure interaction makes each life stage-and sometimes each menstrual period-a unique challenge for the woman with epilepsy. Because seizures disrupt regions of the brain that regulate reproductive hormones, women who have seizures also are more likely to have reproductive problems such as polycystic ovarian disease, early menopause and irregular ovulation.

Even birth control choices are affected by epilepsy. Certain antiepileptic medications (medications that control seizures) make hormonal birth control less effective in preventing pregnancy. Hormonal birth control includes oral contraceptives (birth control pills), long acting progestin shots and implants and intrauterine devices that release hormones. While most women with epilepsy can have healthy babies, they are advised to work with health care professionals knowledgeable about seizure disorders to guard against increased risks for complications during pregnancy. See the Treatment section of this topic for more information on epilepsy and pregnancy.