What to Expect from Epilepsy
In epilepsy, the normal transmission of electrical signals in the brain is disturbed. Epilepsy may develop after a traumatic injury or any situation that keeps the brain from getting oxygen.
But the cause of epilepsy is unknown in about half of people who develop it.
A single seizure doesn’t mean that you have epilepsy. But seizures are among the most common epilepsy symptoms and clinicians divide them into several categories:
- Partial seizures: Seizures associated with disrupted activity in only one area of the brain. Simple partial seizures can cause changes in emotions and in sensory perception, while complex partial seizures cause a lack of awareness of surroundings.
- Generalized seizures: Seizures that involve several areas of the brain. Types of generalized seizures include atonic seizures, which cause you to fall down, myoclonic seizures, which cause jerking of the arms and legs, absence seizures, which cause loss of awareness, and tonic-clonic (also called grand mal) seizures, which cause shaking, convulsions, loss of consciousness, and sometimes tongue-biting.
If you have symptoms of a seizure, see a specialist to develop a plan to manage future seizures.
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