Epilepsy

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Summary

Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes people to have recurring seizures. The seizures happen when clusters of nerve cells, or neurons, in the brain send out the wrong signals. People may have strange sensations and emotions or behave strangely. They may have violent muscle spasms or lose consciousness.

Epilepsy has many possible causes, including illness, brain injury, and abnormal brain development. In many cases, the cause is unknown.

Doctors use brain scans and other tests to diagnose epilepsy. It is important to start treatment right away. There is no cure for epilepsy, but medicines can control seizures for most people. When medicines are not working well, surgery or implanted devices such as vagus nerve stimulators may help. Special diets can help some children with epilepsy.

NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Start Here

About Epilepsy (Department of Veterans Affairs)
Epilepsy and Seizures (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

Diagnosis and Tests

EEG (Electroencephalogram) (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
Functional MRI (fMRI) (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
Head CT (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
Pharmacogenetic Tests (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

Epilepsy Surgery (Nemours Foundation)
Epilepsy Surgery (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
First Aid for Seizures (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Treating Epilepsy (American Academy of Neurology) - PDF

Living With

Managing Epilepsy (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Related Issues

Employees with Epilepsy/Seizure Disorder (Office of Disability Employment Policy)
Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Specifics

Dravet Syndrome (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

Genetics

Autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Autosomal dominant partial epilepsy with auditory features: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Benign familial neonatal seizures: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
CDKL5 deficiency disorder: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
CHD2 myoclonic encephalopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Childhood absence epilepsy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
CLN8 disease: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Developmental and epileptic encephalopathy 1: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Epilepsy-aphasia spectrum: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Genetic epilepsy with febrile seizures plus: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
GM3 synthase deficiency: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Lafora progressive myoclonus epilepsy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Lennox-Gastaut syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Malignant migrating partial seizures of infancy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Myoclonic epilepsy with ragged-red fibers: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
PRICKLE1-related progressive myoclonus epilepsy with ataxia: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Ring chromosome 14 syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Ring chromosome 20 syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Spinal muscular atrophy with progressive myoclonic epilepsy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
STXBP1 encephalopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Unverricht-Lundborg disease: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)

Images

Craniotomy - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Statistics and Research

Curing the Epilepsies: The Promise of Research (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
Epilepsy Facts and Stats (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Epilepsy (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Find an Expert

Find a Doctor (American Epilepsy Society)
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Also in Spanish

Children

Epilepsy (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Infantile Spasms (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
Vagus Nerve Stimulator Therapy for Epilepsy (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

Epilepsy (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Women

Epilepsy and Pregnancy (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
Epilepsy and Pregnancy: What You Need to Know (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

Brain surgery (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
EEG (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Epilepsy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Epilepsy in children (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Epilepsy in children - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Epilepsy or seizures - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish