Information About Epilepsy

What is Epilepsy?

Having epilepsy means that you have a tendency to have seizures. It is a neurological disorder, however not always a life-long diagnosis.

What Happens During A Seizure?

When a seizure occurs, it is because there is a sudden burst of electrical activity in the brain. The electrical bursts temporarily cause a disruption in the way the brain normally works and therefore causes the brain?s messages to get ?mixed up?. During a seizure, some people may lose consciousness, however others may not.Some people have strange sensations, or parts of their body might twitch or jerk. Other people fall to the floor and convulse. This is when they jerk violently as their muscles tighten and relax repeatedly. These seizure?s can last between a few seconds and a couple ofminutes.

Types Of Seizures:

There are many different types of seizures, and therefore each individual will experience epilepsy in a different way.

Simple Focal Seizure- When someone experience's these seizure's, the person is usually aware that it something is happening and the individual will remember the seizure afterwards. Some people may find these types of seizures difficult to put into words as during the seizure they may feel 'strange'. These types of seizures can sometimes be described as 'warnings' as they can develop into a different type of seizure.

Complex Focal Seizures- These are the seizures when a personsconsciousness is affected and they may be confused. They might make strange or repetitive movements.They may wander around, or behave strangely, and they may not be aware of what they are doing. People with these seizures may be able to hear you but not understand what you are saying. If you speak loudly to someone who may beexperiencingthisseizure, they may think you are being aggressive towards them and may reactaggressivelytowards you.

Tonic Clonic -These seizures (also known as grand mal) is when a person will loose consciousness, jerk, may wet themselves, skin may change colour to be very pale or bluish, there body goes stiff and can bite their tongue or cheek during this type of seizure.

Clonic Seizure- This is when an individual may experience convulse seizures but the person's body may not go stiff at the start of the seizure.

Tonic- These types of seizures is when a person's muscles will suddenly become stiff, so when they are standing they may often fall. The seizures are usually short and can happen without warning.

Atonic- This is when a persons muscles suddenly become relaxed, which makes a person all floppy. If they are standing, they would usually fall forwards and run the risk of injuring there head and/or face. Like tonic seizures, these can also happen without warning.

Absences- Also referred to as petit mal. These types of seizures are more common in children then adults and can happen more frequently. An absence is when a person become unconscious for a very short amount of time. You can notice an absent seizure by how they may look, they may have a blank stare and their eyelids might flutter. They may not be aware of what is happening around them. often these seizures go un-noticed due to the short amount of time they are present.

Generalized Seizures- This is when both sides of the brain is affected at once and without warning. The person may become unconscious and may not be aware of the seizure afterwards.

What Triggers A Seizure?

As listed below, these are often called?triggers?. This is because they do not cause epilepsy itself, but are identified as more likely to bring on a seizure.

☆ Feeling Tired
☆ Alcohol
☆ Stress
☆ Flashing or Flickering Lights
☆ Missing Meals

Recovery Position

Click here to view the recovery position. This is the position you put someone in if they are having a seizure. In order to carry this out safely you need to carry out the following steps:

Kneel on the floor on one side of the person
Placethe arm nearest youat a right angle to their body with their hand upwards towards the head
Tuck theirother hand under the side of their head, so that the back of their hand is touching their cheek
Bend the knee farthest from you to a right angle
Roll the person onto their side carefully by pulling on the bent knee
The top arm should be supporting the head and the bottom arm will stop you rolling them too far
Open their airway by gentlytilting their head back andlifting their chin, and check that nothing is blocking their airway
Stay with the person and monitor their breathing and pulse continuously until help arrives
if possible, turn the person onto their other side after 30 minutes

What ToDOWhen Someone Is Having A Seizure?

☆Guide the person from danger
☆Stay with the person until recovery is complete
☆Be calmly reassuring
☆Protect the person from injury - (remove harmful objects from nearby)
☆Cushion their head
☆Look for an epilepsy identity card or identity jewellery
☆Aid breathing by gently placing them in the recovery position once the seizure has finished (see pictures)
☆Explain anything that they may have missed

WhatNOTTo Do When Someone Is Having A Seizure?

☆Restrain the person?s movements
☆Put anything in the person?s mouth
☆Try to move them unless they are in danger
☆Act in a way that could frighten them, such as making abrupt movements or shouting at them
☆Assume the person is aware of what is happening, or what has happened
☆Give them anything to eat or drink until they are fully recovered

Laws

The equality laws mean it is against the law for someone to treat you unfairly at work because of your epilepsy. All jobs apart from the armed forces are open to taking people with epilepsy.There may be some jobs you can?t do if your seizures mean you or others would be put at risk. Examples are police officer, fire fighter and working at heights. Your education is also protected by the equality laws. This means you should not be discriminated against because of your epilepsy and should be able to request extra support if needed.

Random Facts:

☆Some people can have seizures whilst they are asleep.
☆In the UK, there are over 600,000 people with epilepsy.
☆In around six out of 10 people, doctors don?t know the cause of their epilepsy.