An increase in seizure frequency and severity during certain points of the menstrual cycle has been noted in women with epilepsy for more than 100 years. Women with this type of epilepsy are categorized as having catamenial epilepsy and a review in the July 2009 issue of "Epilepsy Research" says that between 30 and 60 percent of women with epilepsy exhibit catamenial seizures. In general, estrogen is thought to act as a proconvulsant and progesterone as an anticonvulsant. The complex interplay of these hormones and their actions in the brain...
A seizure occurs when the brain loses the ability to stop the electrical impulse after signal transmission, leading to an overstimulation of brain cells. Epilepsy can have a number of effects on the brain, as well as effects on...
Several different things can cause epilepsy from illness to a brain tumor. This condition can have multiple effects on a patient's mind and body.
Epilepsy is a neurological disease stemming from a deregulation of brain signaling. Nerve cells within the brain, called neurons, commonly communicate with each other through cell junctions called synapses. One nerve cell sends...
Epilepsy comes from the Greek word meaning "possession." There are several different types of epileptic seizures, but each have after effects, or a postictal stage that involves decreased brain activity for up to 48 hours after...
The diagnosis of epilepsy is given when there are two or more seizures; epilepsy can be treated with medication or with surgical procedures. All forms of epilepsy require some form of treatment because a seizure can occur durin...
It affects 2.5 million Americans, according to Teens Health. Seizures result from abnormal electrical activity in the brain that hinders communication between nerve cells. The effects on the body can be slight or severe, depend...
Recommendations for pregnant women with epilepsy have changed considerably over the past few decades. Once discouraged from getting pregnant at all, women with epilepsy now have a 90 percent chance of having a normal pregnancy ...
Many studies have found that cognitive impairment is a common finding in patients with epilepsy. It is unclear why these impairments occur--seizure activity, side effects of medications, or the as-yet-unknown cause of epileps...
For the millions of Americans--children and adults alike--diagnosed with this condition, though, the effects of epilepsy go beyond the physical aspects of the seizures themselves.
