Epilepsy Nurses
Epilepsy
• There are around 40 types of seizures and a person have more than one type of seizure.
• Epilepsy can affect anyone, at any age and from any walk of life.
• Over 400,000 people in the UK have epilepsy and about 50 million worldwide.
• Approximately 65,000 children in the UK have a diagnosis of epilepsy.
• Epilepsy is a neurological condition.
• Epilepsy is covered by the Disability Discrimation Act.
What is epilepsy?
• Epilepsy is the tendency to have recurrent seizures that start in the brain.
• The brain uses electrical signals passing between neurones to send messages. Our brain is the ‘control centre’.
• Interruption to these messages or a build up of electrical signals can lead to a seizure.
• What an individual experiences during a seizure will depend on where in the brain the epileptic activity begins and how widely and rapidly it spreads.
Treatment of epilepsy
• First line treatment for epilepsy is anti-epileptic medication
• Anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) are prescribed to stop seizures occuring.
• AEDs are not a cure for epilepsy.
• There are over 20 different medications, which come in tablets, capsules, liquids, syrups, sprinkles.
• Other treatments include:Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS)
• Ketogenic Diet
• Surgery
• Complimentary medicine
