Of course, everyone heard about epilepsy. Doctors used to call this neurological disease epilepticus. How is it treated with the modern development of medicine? Can women with such a diagnosis now have healthy children?
The causes of the attacks are still being studied on modern equipment. And the fact that the disease can be controlled is a big step forward in science. Patients are constantly forced to take specific antiepileptic drugs, this saves them life. Let us consider in more detail what is hidden under the medical diagnosis of epilepsy.
Is epilepsy a dangerous disease?
The term "epilepsy" means a disease of the nervous system. The exact pathogenesis is still unclear. Although this disease is known since the time of Hippocrates. This neurological disease, according to WHO today, affects nearly 50 million people worldwide. Epilepsy is a chronic condition. Appearing once, the attack is very likely to recur soon.
An epileptic is a person who from time to time experiences bouts of pathological activity of nerve cells in the brain. Attacks are accompanied by loss of consciousness, often respiratory arrest and severe body cramps. In the early stages of the disease, seizures are rare, and their manifestation is almost imperceptible, so not all children immediately notice this disease.
When the disease progresses, and the parents are afraid or do not want to give the child a cure, that is, the risk of developing an epileptic status - when at once 4 or more seizures “crash” into the body. The patient himself does not remember all the details of his condition. These conditions are very dangerous, often fatal if no one is nearby. But timely help and the right medicines can help raise a child and successfully socialize him.
Types of Epilepsy
There are mainly 2 types of epilepsy: localized seizures and generalized seizures. Generalized are divided into simple and complex. Localized seizures have one or more areas of convulsive activity in the brain. Such seizures are not associated with brain damage or environmental triggers. Their appearance remains a mystery to doctors. Often their nature is due to a genetic predisposition.
Generalized (generalized) seizures are those convulsions that affect 80% of adults with a diagnosis of epilepsy. In this case, electrical activity affects both hemispheres of the brain.
The discharges in the cerebral cortex are so strong that the mental sphere suffers. Memory worsens, depression begins.
Distinguish between tonic and atonic seizures, convulsive and non-convulsive form. Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy is often diagnosed in adolescents. In general, there are a lot of types of disease.
Causes of the disease
It often happens that pathological foci of abnormal excitation of nerve cells appear after skull injuries, during difficult births or after unsuccessful falls with a head injury in childhood. However, cryptogenic is diagnosed in 50% of cases of epilepsy. That is, the doctors could not establish the cause of the disease.
Another 50% of cases are the consequences of a tumor in the brain, hematomas, circulatory disorders (ischemia), or the injuries described above. In addition, epilepsy occurs in patients with an inflammatory process in the brain associated with encephalitis.
It is known that a seizure begins at a time when a pathological focus in one of the brain systems suddenly spreads over the entire area of the cortex. Sometimes sharp sensory irritants trigger this reaction, sometimes some pills.
We list what is not possible for epileptics, which drugs can cause body cramps:
- some painkillers;
- antidepressants;
- bronchodilators;
- antibiotics
- antihistamines.
The epileptic man is forced to limit himself in many ways. You can not drink, engage in professional sports, many professions will be inaccessible.
Disease in children
Epilepsy is a disease that begins in childhood and accompanies a person all his life. Younger children are more likely to experience convulsive epilepsy or absinthe. It occurs at the age of 5 - 8 years. The parent may notice that the baby's gaze stopped, he stopped responding to others. Sometimes the eyeball rolls up, and the skin begins to turn blue from a temporary stop of breathing. Consciousness in this case may persist or slightly dim.
There are so-called atonic attacks, that is, the child loses muscle tone and falls. Some children have only nightly cramps, someone has a convulsive syndrome that captures only the muscles of the face. For example, Rolandic epilepsy, in which the child's lips or larynx twitch, while salivation is significantly increased. These forms of the disease are not dangerous.
A generalized tonic-clonic epileptic seizure in children is diagnosed between the ages of 5-6 and 18. The first attack does not last long, and older people should not panic at this time. You just need to put something under your head and turn the child to one side. This is the best thing an adult can do in such a situation, and, of course, you need to call a doctor.
Symptoms of tonic-clonic epilepsy
This type of epilepsy, as generalized tonic-clonic, has 4 separate phases. They are the main symptoms. This form always looks very scary. The patient is not conscious, the pupils are dilated, his body is arched or painfully convulsing. Such a person definitely needs the help of outsiders. The phases of the attack are:
- Precursor phase, or aura. A couple of hours before a severe seizure, the patient often has a headache or malaise.
- Tonic phase - approximately 15-40 seconds lasts convulsive tension of all muscle groups. The pectoral muscles are also overstrained and the person cannot breathe. The face turns blue at this time.
- Clonic cramps. This phase lasts about 3-4 minutes. The patient begins to breathe hoarsely. Due to the strong salivation, something like foam with blood comes out of the mouth.
- Relaxation. There is a sharp inhibition in the brain cells. After convulsions, a person loses consciousness, and then slowly comes to his senses. Sometimes it immediately falls asleep or goes into a light coma.
In the event that epileptic seizures begin the 2nd and 3rd time, an urgent need to call a doctor. He must urgently remove a person from the status, otherwise brain damage from hypoxia begins.
Is it possible to have children?
If the epileptologist managed to find the necessary treatment and the patient has established a stable remission for 2-3 years, then she can plan a pregnancy.
Of course, the risks are great, because if the patient suffers from generalized seizures, then during seizures, she can damage the stomach, which will lead to the separation of the placenta.
Moreover, all drugs for epileptics negatively affect the development of the fetus. First of all, they reduce the level of the substance necessary for bearing the fetus - folic acid. Therefore, a few months before conception, a woman should start taking folic acid in capsules to restore the level necessary for pregnancy. The role of folic acid is invaluable to the fetus, especially in the very early stages, when the nervous system is only formed.
What to do with taking drugs during lactation? When a baby has an acute allergic reaction to mother’s breast milk, you need to see a doctor. He may change the antiepileptic medicine to a safer one, but he may have to switch to artificial feeding of the baby. Each case is considered separately.
Questions about the inheritance of epilepsy
Is it a myth or the fact that epilepsy is always inherited, and the child will also suffer from such a disease? In fact, the risk of inheriting the disease if one of the spouses is sick and the other is absolutely healthy, is small.
In the case of an acquired disease, epilepsy is not transmitted at all. Epileptic children with skull injuries are always healthy. The degree of probability of inheritance still largely depends on the form of the disease. The risk is high when one of the relatives (brothers, uncles, aunts) had either a brain tumor that led to epilepsy, or infant myoclonic seizures that stopped over time.
There are cases when childhood attacks were inherited by grandchildren, and the grandson's disease manifested itself many times harder. Therefore, before planning a child, you need to find out everything that grandparents, and not just parents, were sick.
Methods for diagnosing the disease
To establish the correct diagnosis, the doctor must conduct many tests. Under the symptoms of epilepsy, something else may be hidden. For example, severe cramps cause a violation of blood sugar levels or a banal lack of sodium in the blood. Also, do not confuse epilepsy with febrile seizures.
So, what kind of tests does the doctor usually prescribe?
- EEG with stimulation and deprivation of sleep.
- MRI of the brain.
- X-ray of the skull.
- Blood test: immunological and biochemical.
- PET brain.
We also need tests to determine changes in the psyche: speed of thinking, memory. These tests help establish the localization of the pathology.
Psychological tests also show if there are any changes in the emotional sphere (depression, thoughts of suicide). However, such deviations in the psyche are extremely rare.
Treatment
How is medication treated? After the examination, the epileptologist selects the drug that will minimize the pathological excitability of nerve cells. Combination therapy is sometimes performed. The patient is prescribed 2 or more anticonvulsant drugs. There are cases when hormones are required: predinisone or ACTH.
In 90% of cases, the continuous use of epileptic tablets leads to a decrease in the number of seizures. An epileptic is a full-fledged person in social terms, and cramps prevent him from developing.
Over time, with proper treatment, seizures can completely stop. An adult, however, after stopping convulsive seizures for at least 5 years, should take the prescribed tablets. Only 2 years is enough for children.
Patients with epileptic status are brought to a normal state by administering anticonvulsants intravenously. Frequent seizures arising from the background of the tumor worry relatives, and doctors sometimes suggest surgery to remove parts of the brain.
These operations are extremely dangerous, because the doctor can accidentally hook important neurons. But according to statistics, operations to remove the lesion in the temporal lobe are most successful.
Socialization of children and adolescents with epilepsy
An epileptic is a person who has a central nervous system “junk”. This is by no means a mental patient, as many are mistaken, moreover, such people are often very talented.
The professions of epileptics are all those where a person cannot provoke situations that threaten others by his ailment. These people are available places in the library, accounting. He can graduate from university, become a botanist, biologist. If there is data, you can get an education at an art school.
Sanatorium for epileptics
Neurological diseases began to be treated in sanatoriums from the middle of the 19th century. Mud procedures, clean air are useful for epileptics. For people with this disease, it is extremely important to maintain a calm and constant daily routine. Such patients should not skip taking drugs or not enough sleep. The attending physician in the sanatorium should know what drugs are already being taken.
It is good to find a sanatorium for such a person in a forest area or in the mountains, where there are no sharp sounds irritating the nervous system. Only there can a person normalize biorhythms.
Forecasts
The lifespan of epileptics depends on the strength of the seizures and the lifestyle of the person. The most dangerous generalized epilepsy. As we mentioned, during a tonic seizure, the patient may be without air for too long or choke with vomit during convulsions, if no one was nearby to turn the person on one side. But a small convulsive form of epilepsy is not at all dangerous.
If, from childhood, from about 8-10 years old, the child suffers from severe and frequent convulsions, it must be treated with anticonvulsants. However, all diagnostics are very expensive for middle-income families, especially a 12-hour EEG diagnosis. Good German medicines also cost a lot.
Without adequate treatment, a rapidly progressive disease leads to death at a fairly young age of 20-30 years. This is especially true for guys who do not observe the daily regimen and drink from time to time, despite the prohibitions. An epileptic person should absolutely not drink alcohol. And also should not swim far, should not watch a lot of TV or sit in front of a computer monitor, if his attacks begin under the influence of a visual stimulus.
Those who quit smoking and alcohol and take pills for epileptics and lead a measured lifestyle, usually live to a very old age.