About three million people in the United States have epilepsy, with 200,000 new cases diagnosed each year, according to the Epilepsy Foundation. However, having just one seizure does not mean a person has epilepsy. The Mayo Clinic explains that a person must have at least two unprovoked seizures to have epilepsy, meaning the seizures are not caused by a fever or other recognizable cause.
The symptoms of epilepsy depend on the type of seizures that the patient has. For example, a patient who has petit mal seizures, also called absence seizures, have staring spells that last for less than 15 seconds. On the other hand, a patient who has generalized tonic-clonic seizures, also called grand mal seizures, has full body muscle contractions. An electroencephalogram (EEG) can diagnose epilepsy, which detects the abnormal electrical activity in the brain that triggers a seizure.
The Epilepsy Foundation states “in 70 percent of new cases, no cause is apparent.” In cases where the cause is found, epilepsy can occur as a result of brain damage. For example, head trauma, dementia and developmental disorders can result in epilepsy. The Mayo Clinic adds that cerebral palsy and other prenatal injuries cause 20 percent of epilepsy cases in children, and strokes cause 50 percent of epilepsy cases in people ages 65 and over.
Genetics can also play a role in the onset of epilepsy. HealthDay News reports that “people who are missing large chunks of DNA on chromosome 16 have a greatly increased risk of developing epilepsy.” However, not all epilepsy patients have this missing DNA. In the test group of 3,800 epileptic patients used in the study, 23 patients were missing part of chromosome 16, specifically at 16p13.11. When the researchers compared the results from the epileptic patients to 1,300 healthy people, none of the controls had the deletions on chromosome 16.
The Mayo Clinic adds that some researchers have estimated that up to 500 genes are linked to epilepsy. Some types of epilepsy are inheritable, though not everyone in the family will have the disorder. The Epilepsy Foundation states “some studies have shown that the risk of epilepsy in brothers, sisters and children of people with seizure disorders ranges from 4 to 8 percent (that is, between about one in 25 and about one in 12).” Nevertheless, genetics are not the only risk in epilepsy.
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Elizabeth Stannard Gromisch received her bachelor’s of science degree in neuroscience from Trinity College in Hartford, CT in May 2009. She is the Hartford Women's Health Examiner and she writes about abuse on Suite 101.