What are the key principles of diagnosing epilepsy?
Your doctor may test your behavior, motor abilities, mental function and other areas to diagnose your condition and determine the type of epilepsy you may have. Blood tests. Your doctor may take a blood sample to check for signs of infections, genetic conditions or other conditions that may be associated with seizures.
How does epilepsy affect personality?
When epilepsy affects you for long periods, you may notice changes in your behavior, your feelings, and in how you see the world. Feelings of depression or anxiety are especially common. A few people with epilepsy experience psychosis (losing contact with reality).
What are the struggles of epilepsy?
Cognitive or learning problems that require special help or accommodations. Symptoms of depression, anxiety, or other changes in mood or behavior. Problems sleeping. Unexplained injuries, falls, or other illnesses.
What happens if you are misdiagnosed with epilepsy?
Background: As many as 20% to 30% of epileptics may have been misdiagnosed. Many of these patients may have cardiovascular syncope, with abnormal movements due to cerebral hypoxia, which may be difficult to differentiate from epilepsy on clinical grounds.
Can epilepsy be ruled out?
Blood tests, an Electroencephalogram (EEG) and scans are used to gather information for a diagnosis. Tests on their own cannot confirm or rule out epilepsy.
Does epilepsy affect memory?
Seizures. Any type of epileptic seizure could potentially affect your memory, either during or after a seizure. If you have lots of seizures, memory problems might happen more often. Some people have generalised seizures that affect all of the brain.
Is epilepsy commonly misdiagnosed?
It has become axiomatic that the rate of misdiagnosis of epilepsy is high. A population based study mainly in adults found a misdiagnosis rate of 23%,1 while 26% of subjects referred to a single adult neurologist with “refractory epilepsy” were found not to have epilepsy.
Is epilepsy hard to diagnose?
Knowing if a person is having a seizure and diagnosing the type of seizure or epilepsy syndrome can be difficult. The treatment of seizures depends on an accurate diagnosis. Making sure a person has epilepsy and knowing what kind of epilepsy is a critical first step.
Is epilepsy a rare condition?
About Rare Epilepsies Viewed across the entire spectrum, epilepsy is not rare: It is more common than autism, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and cerebral palsy combined. More than 3.4 million people are living with epilepsy in the United States.
Does epilepsy affect intelligence?
[6,7] Dodson[8] reported that children with epilepsy have an intelligence quotient (IQ) score that is 10 points lower than their healthy, age-matched peers. Epilepsy can affect a person’s education, career, general health, mental health, and marriage, among other things.
Does untreated epilepsy get worse?
If epilepsy is not treated, seizures may occur throughout a person’s life. Seizures can become more severe and happen more often over time. Epilepsy can be caused by tumors or improperly formed blood vessels.
Does myoclonic epilepsy get worse?
Another rare seizure disorder, progressive myoclonic epilepsy, is characterized by a combination of myoclonic and tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures. Treatment may provide relief for a while, but the patient’s condition worsens over time.
