Facts and solutions that you should not miss in generalized epilepsy
Have you ever come across someone may be in your family or a friend or you yourself with a sudden onset uncontrollable jerky movement involving your both arms and legs or staring into space for seconds without being aware? Have you ever thought that it is all due to abnormal firing of the circuits throughout the brain?
Let’s take a closer look on generalized epilepsy!
What is generalized epilepsy?
Generalized epilepsy occurs due to abnormal electrical activity throughout the brain. Onset of the seizure occurs involving both hemispheres simultaneously. It is usually associated with loss of consciousness.
What causes generalized epilepsy?
It is usually due to a genetic cause affecting the development of the brain. It is usually following abnormalities of cells and ion channels of your brain which control the brain’s electricity, like dials of electricity in the brain, causing generalized epilepsy.
What are the symptoms of a generalized seizure?
A generalised tonic-clonic seizure you may feel as initial tonicity involving whole body followed by synchronous jerky movements of limbs for few minutes which can be associated with biting tongue and losing the of control of bladder and bowel. Sometimes you may sustain injuries due to a fall and uncontrollable movement. Following that you may have a period of unresponsiveness or drowsiness for minutes to hours.
In absence seizures you may have sudden pause with loss of awareness and a vacant expression for few seconds with eyes rolled up and slight fluttering of eyelids. You may not even realize that you have had an attack
In myoclonic jerks you will feel a sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle or muscle group. Some children will develop myoclonic jerks which also could be a sign of epilepsy.
What are the causes of generalized epilepsy?
The causes of generalized epilepsy that you may come across which are most likely genetic and starts earlier in life are:
Generalized absence epilepsy, which is manifestation of primary generalized epilepsy,
Childhood absence epilepsy which may spontaneously resolve at age of 18,
and
Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy which may cause myoclonic jerks starting from teenage years followed by generalized tonic- clonic seizures.
How to diagnose generalized epilepsy?
Diagnosis is initiated with a good history and physical examination including a good description of the event. If you can obtain a video of the event, it is very helpful for the doctor for the diagnosis.
Usually, abnormal movements can occur involving whole body and staring spells can also occur in a seizure.
Then, we can do an EEG which is a brain wave test to diagnose generalized epilepsy. In a generalized seizure it will show a sudden burst of electricity throughout the brain at once.
Brain MRI also can be done, which is usually normal in generalized epilepsy.
How to treat generalized epilepsy?
Antiepileptic drugs are given when there is a firm clinical diagnosis of epilepsy and risk of getting recurrent seizures.
It is important to differentiate from focal epilepsy because treatment can be totally different.
Some medication can worsen generalized epilepsy such as sodium channel blockers including phenytoin, Carbamazepine (Tegretol).
Broad-spectrum antiseizure medications are used specifically to treat generalized epilepsy which have a coverage for all seizure types. Ethosuximide controls only absence seizures. Other than that valproic acid, levetiracetam, lacosamide, topiramate, zonisamide, perampanel and can be used to treat generalized epilepsy and can use to treat focal epilepsy as well.