Epilepsy does not stand forever

Epilepsy can last a few months, years, or be life-long. It varies among individuals. And approximately six people out of 1,000 have epilepsy. Epilepsy can begin at any age. It most commonly begins in children and in older adults. Most commonly we use medicine to treat epilepsy. If medicines fail, and epilepsy surgery is not an option, some patients opt for the vagus nerve stimulator, an electrical device implanted under the skin like a pacemaker.
The gamma knife has primarily been used to treat irreparable vascular malformations and tumors, and if the seizures are being caused by those things then the gamma knife may help treat the seizures also. Research is being done on treating other forms of epilepsy with the gamma knife, but this is experimental at the present time. Resection surgery (removing the area where seizures come from) is still the most common surgical treatment of epilepsy.
The tests are done to see where the seizures are coming from and if that area can be safely removed. Most centers perform an EEG recording of seizures (called video EEG) and MRI scan, and a test of brain function known as neuropsychological testing. Other tests include PET and SPECT scans, magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional MRI (fMRI). These are tests that measure the brain's function.

Infantile spasms are a type of seizure that occur in young children (6-12 months old). Most often they are treated with a medicine called ACTH, but they are often difficult to control and may evolve into other severe forms of epilepsy.

If absence seizures go undiagnosed these could happen:

The possibilities include 1) affecting school performance such as learning, 2) absence seizures are occasionally associated with other seizure types, such as convlusive seizures, and 3) absence seizures can go away on their own.


About 2% of children with febrile seizures will eventually develop epileptic seizures. The odds are slightly higher if the child has a long febrile seizure, the seizure primarily affects one side of the body or multiple seizures occur with a single febrile illness. Most children with febrile convulsions do not develop epilepsy. There is a diet known as the ketogenic diet that can treat certain types of epilepsy, mostly occurring in children. There has been some recent evidence from a small study that a modified version of the Atkins diet may help treat seizures, but this needs to be confirmed with a larger study. In general, I advise healthy diet and not skip meals.

If a person has inherited epilepsy, a sibling who has not yet had a seizure then by definition they do not have epilepsy. And as additional info, please don't EEG on a family member that does not have seizures.

And below some first aid if you see someone having a bystander:
1) Helping the person lie down and taking them away from any dangerous objects like stoves;
2) Rolling them onto their side so they do not choke if they vomit;
3) Loosening any tight clothing such as neck ties;
4) Reassuring them as they are coming out of the seizure as they may be confused; and
5) Calling an ambulance if it is the person's first seizure or if it is significantly longer than their usual seizure.

There are many different types of seizures. The two main types include
1) generalized seizures that affect the entire brain, and
2) partial seizures, that come from a part or region of the brain. There are many sub-types of generalized and partial seizures.
The most important factor in diagnosis is a description of the seizures, not only from the person, but also from a witness to the seizures. A neurological examination is performed to look for any signs of brain dysfunction. Then we often use tests like the EEG or MRI to help us with the diagnosis. Also, there are a dozen medicines that are now used to control seizures. None of them, however, have been shown to cure epilepsy.