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.

Young manYour 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.

Comments

I have just been diagnosed with Idiopathic Generalised Epilepsy, I am 12 years of age and I am scared because they said that I might have JME and that we will have to wait and see what happens over the next few months. Can this type of epilepsy go as quickly as it came?