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Explore the diagnosis, causes, and effects of epilepsy in children, including how it impacts daily life. Learn how neurologists play a vital role in managing epilepsy.
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Grand Round at the PLTW Hospital Caroline Stroud
Patient • A ten year old boy was brought into the hospital, with complaints about being more aggressive and angry. • His mother said that he was having convulsions and shaking all over after coming back from laser tag. • He fell on the floor, but he did not remember this. All he remembered was that he smelled a bad odor before he fell.
Parts of the Brain Effected • The boys anger and aggression is coming from the impulsive part the brain the frontal lobe. • The loss of memory comes from the hippocampus and the frontal lobes of the brain.
The Diagnosis • The boy is diagnosed with a disease called epilepsy. • All the symptoms and the parts of the brain that are affected all lead to epilepsy. • The boy will be sent to a neurologist to be checked out further to see exactly how serious the epilepsy is.
What is Epilepsy? • Epilepsy is a seizure disorder that makes the person it affects have repeated seizures, or convulsions over a time period. • Seizures are episodes brain activity that cause changes in attention or behavior. • To be epilepsy the person has more than one seizure in their life.
What Causes Epilepsy? • Epilepsy can be caused by many different things. • Some permanent changes in the brain tissue can cause the brain to be too excitable. • This causes the brain to send out abnormal signals. • Some things that cause this are infections, brain damage, abnormal blood vessels, or some medicines.
Visuals of Brains and Neurons Affected by Epilepsy Below is a picture of how a neuron works. Above is a normal brain compared to a brain of an epileptic person.
What Is Life with Epilepsy going to be like? • Most people who have epilepsy have normal lives. • Some of the worse cases of it can have shorter lives and also have permanent brain damage. • People can get frustrated and have behavioral and emotional problems. • Some even get bullied and made fun of. • People with epilepsy cannot drive and have a lower rate of getting into places for work. • They cannot be around flashing lights or strobe lights.
General Doctor • Many patients with epilepsy go to their regular, general doctor first. • The doctor may run some test on them and ask them what their symptoms are. • The general doctor will most likely assign the patient a neurologist that they know and send them there for further examination.
Neurologist • A neurologist can help a person with epilepsy. • They can do different neurological tests to see what is causing the brain to have multiple seizures. • Neurologists can help prescribe medicines and things that will help with epilepsy.
References • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001714/ • http://www.everydayhealth.com/epilepsy/understanding/epilepsys-affect-on-daily-life.aspx