Young people and epilepsy

Epilepsy is a tendency to have seizures (sometimes called fits). A seizure is caused by a sudden burst of excess electrical activity in your brain, causing a temporary disruption in the normal message passing between brain cells. When this happens, your brain’s messages can get mixed up, which can cause you to have a seizure. Your brain is responsible for all the functions of your body, so what you experience during a seizure will depend on where in your brain the epileptic activity begins and how widely and rapidly it spreads. For this reason, there are many different types of seizure and each person will experience epilepsy in a way that is unique to them.
What causes epilepsy?

Sometimes the reason epilepsy develops is clear. It could be because of brain damage caused by a difficult birth; a severe blow to the head; a stroke which starves the brain of oxygen; or an infection of the brain such as meningitis. For most people there is no known cause for their epilepsy.

 You can also visit our young people section