Possible Causes of Epilepsy

Are you seeking a better understanding of the causes of epilepsy?

When you or a loved one is diagnosed with epilepsy, it can seem very scary. How will you manage this problem? Will it change your life forever if you have epilepsy? Why did you suddenly wind up with this illness, and can you ever live a normal life again?

The good thing is, often, when we know the causes of this disease, it can give us a greater understanding of what we are dealing with and how to manage it.

Epilepsy causes seizures and can occur at any point in life. It is caused by abnormal brain function, or improper connecting of neurotransmitters. Epilepsy can start as early as during infancy, and can also develop in adults. Part of living with this condition comes from understanding it and knowing some of the possible causes of epilepsy.

When this ailment is diagnosed in infants, there are usually different causes as compared to when it is noticed in adults. For babies and children, some of the causes of epilepsy might be:

• A malformed brain
• Not enough oxygen when being born
• An imbalance of electrolytes or low blood sugar
• Maternal drug use
• Fevers (extremely high)
• Infections
• Rarely, brain tumors

Often, these causes aren’t the fault of the parents, but are just the way the baby or child formed or developed. It’s important to know that while parents can feel guilty when their children develop epilepsy, it is not their fault.

In adults, the causes are often different from the causes of epilepsy in children and babies. For adults who have lived most of their lives free of epilepsy, the causes are often triggered externally.

For instance, many adults who develop epilepsy find that it has been caused from a head injury in the past. While it’s not known for sure how far in the past these head traumas have to occur to cause epilepsy or how severe they have to be in order for epilepsy to develop, they have been found to be a major contributing factor.

It’s also important to know that anything that causes the brain chemistry to be altered can be pointed to as a potential cause of epilepsy. Alcoholism, for instance, is considered to be a leading cause of epilepsy in adults. For people who have suffered from strokes, heart attacks or Alzheimer’s disease, the chances of epilepsy also increase.

Other people who have a history of using street drugs or anti-depressants can suffer from epilepsy, too. Exposure to lead or carbon monoxide and other chemicals has been shown to be a cause of epilepsy as well. Sometimes, the causes of epilepsy have to do with a lack of sleep, stress and hormonal changes.

It’s important to note that epilepsy has been found to have a hereditary element, too. So, if one of your parents has had epilepsy, you might find that you might be at higher risk of the disease.

It’s also important to know that just because you had a head injury or used drugs at some point in your life, you won’t necessarily develop epilepsy. Each case has different causes, and some cases never have the causes identified.

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