Wyckoff 1

Gabrielle Wyckoff
Ms. Mounts
Modern literature
May 18, 2015
Nausea, Grogginess, and Head pain: The after effects of a seizure. Epilepsy is a disorder causing
frequent Seizures. These seizures can be unannounced and life threatening. As a result it is important to
know about this disorder. Epilepsy impacts the function of the brain with a variety of symptoms but the
disorder can be managed with treatment.
Epilepsy is defined as a neurological disorder that results in recurrent seizures do to abnormality of
electrical currents in the brain. About 40 million people worldwide are dealing with epilepsy, it is the second
most common neurological disorder today (Laberge et al.). There are many different types of seizures and
they can be classified as complex or simple. A person who is experiencing a complex seizure usually loses
consciousness and can't remember what happened. Where as with people who experience simple seizures
can tell you in detail what happened and when it is about to happen. When someone has a seizure they
usually tend to spaze out , their muscles lock up and they can lose bladder and bowel control, this can last
from 2 minutes up to an hour. If It last more than 15 minutes you should get the person having the seizure to
a hospital, because seizures can be fatal. " Most seizures are benign, but seizures that last a long time can
lead to status epilepticus, a life threatening condition characterized by continuous seizures, sustained loss of
consciousness, and respiratory distress" (Gale). Regardless if the seizure is benign or not, they can be very
serious.
For epilepsy to occur a person has to have an underlying neurological problem. The
problem can be something so small that a person can seem perfectly normal aside from having
seizures."The origin of 50 to 70% of all cases of epilepsy is unknown" (Gale). For some people

Wyckoff 2
epilepsy can be a genetic or hereditary problem. Other people can develop epilepsy by having a
stroke, brain tumor, multiple sclerosis or infections such as meningitis and encephalitis. People
who have epilepsy can experience many different symptoms such as headaches, nausea,
tiredness, and some people often tend to stare off into space for long periods of time. The
symptoms a person experiences varies from person to person based on the severity of their
seizures.
There is no actual cure for someone who has epilepsy, but there are medications that can
be used to help control epilepsy. Some of the most common medications used to control epilepsy
include Keppra, Depakote, Klonopin, Zarontin, and Dilantin. Stress can increase the chances of
having a seizure by 30% (Gale). "Relaxation techniques can provide some sense of control over
the disorder..." (Gale). One of the best ways for an individual to control this disorder is by
getting a good amount of sleep and having a healthy diet. Some People with this disorder often
chose to have surgeries like Lesionectomy, Temporal, Extra-temporal resection,
Hemispherectomy, and Corpus callosotomy. Surgery isn't recommended for someone who's
medication is effective, the origin of a person's seizure is not known, and if there is not a good
reason to believe surgery will improve the patient's health.
Epilepsy has a variety of symptoms and it impacts the function of the human brain, but the disorder
can be managed with multiple treatments. Epilepsy is the second most common neurological disorder, and it
affects the electrical current in the brain causing recurring seizures. Many people with epilepsy obtain it
because of a head trauma or sometimes it is genetic or hereditary; although epilepsy is not totally curable
there are many treatment options such as medication, relaxation, and surgeries.

Wyckoff 3

Wyckoff 4
Works Cited
Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 4th Edition, Farmington
Hills, MI; 4014, pp. 847-851
"Epilepsy." Monique Laberge, PhD., Monique Laberge, PhD., Marshell G.Letcher, MA.,
and Roy Sucholeiki,MD. The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Ed. Laurie J. Fundukian. 4th ed.
Detroit: Gale, 2011.6 vols.
Diseases and Disorders-Epilepsy, Detroit: Lucent Books, 2010,pp.11-25