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Bayfront Institute of Neurosciences Comprehensive Epilepsy Program |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are seizures and epilepsy?
A: The brain is made up of billions of nerve cells that normally communicate with each other through electrical and chemical signals; therefore allowing us to think, see, move and feel. However, sometimes abnormal electrical or chemical communications between groups of nerve cells occur; this group of nerve cells then communicates with a network of other nerve cells having a domino effect that result in an epileptic seizure. During an epileptic seizure, these erratic signals travel through the nervous system, affecting behavior, level of awareness and consciousness, movement, perception or sensation.
Epilepsy is a disorder marked by the tendency to have recurrent, unprovoked seizures. Anyone who has had two or more unprovoked epileptic seizure has epilepsy. During one’s lifetime the chance of developing is epilepsy approaches 4%. However, not all people who have seizures have epilepsy. Some people have a single epileptic seizure and never develop epilepsy. In fact, if you live to age 80, there is a one in ten chance that you will have a single epileptic seizure.
Q: What are the symptoms of seizures and epilepsy?
A: The most easily recognized seizure type is a generalized tonic clonic seizure (convulsion). However, seizures can take a variety of forms, such as a feeling of fear, a rising sensation in the stomach, a brief stare, a lapse of memory, or a loss of muscle tone. Most seizures last from a few seconds to a few minutes. If a seizure lasts longer than five minutes, the person should be brought to the hospital.
Q: How common is epilepsy?
A: More than 2.5 million people in the United States—including approximately 160,000 Floridians—are living with epilepsy. Each year, 100,000 new cases of epilepsy are diagnosed in the United States.
Epilepsy is not a rare condition and affects people of all ages and races. In fact, it is one of the oldest conditions of the human race, with references to the disorder dating back to 5000 B.C.
Throughout history, some of the most famous figures were suspected or known to have had epilepsy. The list includes: Socrates, St. Paul, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Dante, Joan of Arc, Sir Isaac Newton, Napoleon Bonaparte, George Frederick Handel, Ludwig van Beethoven, Charles Dickens, Vincent Van Gogh, and Alfred Nobel.
Although there is no evidence that having seizures or epilepsy can result in exceptional abilities, this impressive list demonstrates that epilepsy does not necessarily limit the potential for achievement.
Q: What causes epilepsy and how is it diagnosed?
A: There are many possible causes of epilepsy, including: severe head injury, stroke, brain tumor, an abnormal collection of blood vessels in the brain, birth trauma, brain infection, or malformed regions of the brain.
The Comprehensive Epilepsy Program utilizes the most advanced diagnostic technology to classify and determine the cause of the seizure or epilepsy. Bayfront offers:
· Digital, long-term, video-EEG monitoring and a dedicated in-hospital unit for around-the-clock evaluation. · Epilepsy protocol high-resolution MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) · 24-hour ambulatory EEG monitoring · PET scan (positron emission tomography) · Subtraction Ictal SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) · Magnetic Source Imaging (through the University of Alabama, Birmingham) · Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Q: What are treatment options?
A: Medical intervention or drug therapy is successful in approximately 70 percent of people with epilepsy. In the last decade, several new anti-epileptic medications have been developed, giving persons with epilepsy more treatment options with fewer side effects. Bayfront’s epilepsy team instructs patients on how to use new medications, create new medication formulas and how to improve the effectiveness of drugs. Many patients have newfound success with medications after meeting with the specialized staff at Bayfront’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Program.
Bayfront also offers patients the opportunity to participate in investigational drug trials of new epilepsy medications, giving them the advantage to be among the first to benefit from advancements in the field.
Surgical intervention is considered after
two seizure medications fail to control a patient’s epilepsy (this condition
is known as intractable epilepsy). According to a study in the New England
Journal of Medicine, the success rate for becoming seizure-free with new
Approximately 30-35 percent of patients with intractable epilepsy do not become seizure-free with medications, and are at greater risk for reduced quality of life, injury, or sudden, unexplained death.
Epilepsy surgery is a highly effective, safe and accepted method of treatment for patients with refractory epilepsy. The New England Journal of Medicine reported that epilepsy surgery is more effective than medications in making intractable temporal lobe epilepsy patients seizure-free. In well-selected candidates, approximately 70-80 percent of patients can become seizure-free or have their seizures significantly reduced. As a Level IV epilepsy center, Bayfront is one of only a few hospitals nationwide that is qualified to offer epilepsy surgery. A comprehensive evaluation will determine if epilepsy surgery is an option.
Vagal nerve stimulation is a treatment option for patients who are not candidates for surgery. A small device, similar to a pacemaker, is implanted and electrically stimulates the left vagus nerve in the neck. The device operates automatically to help prevent seizures, but the patient can also activate the device on their own if they feel a seizure coming on.
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