Epilepsy Management. An Overview

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject Medicine - Pathology, grade: 1.2, Egerton University, language: English, abstract: This report will provide a comprehensive overview on epilepsy.

Epilepsy is defined as a brain disorder which occurs when neurons convey abnormal signals owing to interruptions in the process of generating electrochemical impulses. Ordinarily, neurons operate in a highly coordinated order to produce human feelings, thoughts and actions. This neuronal activity is impaired in epileptic conditions in which strange behavior, sensations and emotions occur leading to muscle spasms, convulsions or even loss of consciousness.

In practice, epilepsy is characterized by seizures in which neurons fire signals repeatedly. It is reported that during a seizure, the neural system can produce more than 500 signals within a second, and this attributable to the abnormal activity of the nerve clusters in the brain.

Historically, epilepsy is known as the oldest mental illness to be identified by man. It dates back to 400 B.C when Hippocrates described it as a brain disorder. Currently, epilepsy has become an enormous challenge to the global public healthcare because it is not curable. This implies that, the management of epilepsy poses challenge to physicians although surgery techniques and medicines help in controlling seizures in 80 percent of epileptic patients. It is estimated that 2.5 million individuals in the US have been diagnosed with epilepsy. However, experiencing a single seizure does not necessarily suggest epilepsy. This is why a comprehensive diagnosis is required in determining epilepsy and the different forms of seizures, in order to adopt the most appropriate treatment option.