Epilepsies are chronic neurological disorders in which clusters of
nerve cells, or neurons, in the brain sometimes signal abnormally and
cause seizures. Epilepsy is a disorder of the brain defined by any of the
following conditions: At least two unprovoked (or reflex) seizures
occurring more than 24 hours apart ,One unprovoked (or reflex) seizure
and a probability of further seizures similar to the general recurrence risk
(at least 60%) after two unprovoked seizures, occurring over the next 10
years.
During a seizure, many neurons fire (signal) at the same time – as
many as 500 times a second, much faster than normal. epileptic seizure, is
defined as period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or
synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from
uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with loss of
consciousness (tonic-clonic seizure), to shaking movements involving
only part of the body with variable levels of consciousness (focal
seizure), to a subtle momentary loss of awareness (absence seizure).[3]
Most of the time these episodes last less than 2 minutes and it takes some
time to return to normal. Loss of bladder control may occur.
Epilepsy affects patients of all ages, races, and ethnic backgrounds.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke
(NINDS), about 2.3 million adults and more than 450,000 children and
adolescents in the United States have epilepsy.
Children with epilepsy also have a higher risk of developing
depression and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder compared with
their peers. Behavioral problems may precede the onset of seizures in
some children. They are especially vulnerable to the emotional problems
Summary
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caused by ignorance or the lack of knowledge among others about
epilepsy.
Our result revealed that:
The mean and median values of depression (20.4 and 18
respectively) and anxiety scales (20 and 18.5 respectively) were
significantly higher in patients group than in controls (7.3 & 7
respectively for depression and 13.5 for both mean and median anxiety)
P |