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Living With Epilepsy
Is Epilepsy Congenital - Will I
have it Forever?
Epilepsy: A Congenital Disorder
Is Epilepsy Congenital? Will I have it forever? When are people most likely to
get epilepsy?
What does congenital mean? According to the Webster’s dictionary, congenital
means present at birth or acquired during fetal development and not hereditary.
Thus, epilepsy could be seen as a congenital disorder or it was already present
when the child is born or in some cases, he child may have acquired it when his
mother had some complications during his development while still in fetal
form.
New cases of epilepsy are common among children aged a year or two. However,
its rate progressively declines until the age of ten, and eventually
stabilizes.
Epilepsy can be both congenital as well as hereditary. Yes, this is a fact.
Most patients were diagnosed to have its symptoms as early as an infant to
adolescents to middle age people to over age adults.
Some children may be inborn with a brain defect, or in some cases, they may have
a head injury or infection that causes their epilepsy. In young adults, the
common cause of epilepsy would be a critical injury in the head. While in the
middle age, the most common causes would still be a serious head injury plus
tumors and strokes which are very frequent. For those people sixty years of age
and above, stroke would be the most common cause, which if not controlled may
eventually result in some degenerative situation such as Alzheimer's disease.
Seizures
Seizures are a symptom of this disorder, epilepsy. How serious are these
seizures? Seizures can range from mild to very severe. Of course this would be
when not treated properly.
Yes, medicine can help minimize attacks of seizures of epileptic people. But
in cases of a long long-term convulsive seizure, this would be very alarming.
This would be a medical emergency and if not stopped within about thirty
minutes, this may cause a permanent injury or even death.
Life Expectancy
If I have epilepsy, how long will I live? This is a question of people who are
desperate and have already lost hope, knowing that they have such as disorder.
Don’t despair, have hope! There are many specialists out there who can help
you! They know epilepsy better than you do!
Life is expected to continue as long as you have discipline. People who suffer
from severe strokes have greater chances of dying sooner than those who don’t.
A brain tumor, on the other hand, would also be very fatal for a person with
epilepsy. The life expectancy of people with epilepsy, who are very sickly, is
the same for everyone. But in cases like serious strokes and other such
ailment, epilepsy may cause them to die early.
Is Epilepsy Incurable?
Since epilepsy is congenital, it can live with you for the rest of your life.
Hence, you don’t have to be bothered a lot. There are prescribed medicines out
there that can help you ease your seizure attacks. Thus, in one way or another,
when taken properly together with a healthy lifestyle, medicines can help you
become seizure-free.
Even though there is no guarantee of being cured from epilepsy, you cannot
conclude that epilepsy is incurable. Serious attacks can be prevented and
controlled. However, even if medicines can help in making a person free from
seizure in quite some time, there is still a need to be very careful concerning
likely accidents.
Epilepsy: A life-long disorder?
Normally, seizures affect the lifestyle of people with epilepsy. Hence, even if
these people require constant medication, they are not decided to do it for the
rest of their lives. For people like this, a positive aura is convincing them
that they might get cured, if not, at least just for a short time. Sixty
percent of epileptic people who are experiencing seizures can be easily
controlled and more likely to go away. But still, there are twenty-five percent
who may develop serious seizures that are likely to be treated lifetime. As it
has been said, more than ½ of childhood epilepsy can be outgrown.
Nevertheless, if ever someone is declared as seizure-free for about 1-3 years,
medications can be withdrawn and stopped when advised by a doctor.
>>> Table of Contents
Epilepsy News:
MSN
Live Search: epilepsy site:msnbc.msn.com
Search results
FDA probes suicide link to epilepsy drugs - Mental health- msnbc.com
The Food and Drug Administration has begun a preliminary inquiry into whether epilepsy drugs might increase the risk of suicidal behavior in some patients.
Push to prevent epilepsy after brain injury - More health news- msnbc ...
Survivors of traumatic brain injuries ? from car-crash victims to soldiers wounded in Iraq ? face an extra hurdle as they recover: Thousands of them will develop epilepsy ...
Epilepsy patients advised to try newer treatments - More health news ...
The number of drugs approved to treat epilepsy has doubled in the past decade, offering long-needed alternatives to some patients. But too few doctors know how to best use the new ...
Epilepsy drug shown to reverse obesity in rats - Diet and nutrition ...
An epilepsy drug being tested for use in treating addiction can help obese rats shed weight, government researchers said on Wednesday.
FDA strengthens epilepsy drug warnings - Health care- msnbc.com
The FDA Wednesday strengthened warnings on certain drugs used to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder and nerve pain.
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Google
epilepsy - Google News
epilepsy - Google News
Removing Part Of Brain Controls Girl's Epilepsy - Science Daily (press releas...
Removing Part Of Brain Controls Girl's Epilepsy
Science Daily (press release) - 6 hours ago
She has come a long way from the time when she was heavily medicated and lethargic, and has even become a spokesperson for the Epilepsy Foundation's ...
Cyberonics Reports Strong Sales Growth and Profitability in Fiscal ... - Mark...
Cyberonics Reports Strong Sales Growth and Profitability in Fiscal ...
MarketWatch - 22 hours ago
Net sales of $36.0 million, a 24% increase from $28.9 million, -- Net US product sales attributable to the epilepsy indication increased by an estimated 32% ...
Cyberonics Swings To Q2 Profit On Top Line Growth; Lifts FY09 ... RTT News
all 298 news articles
November Is National Epilepsy Awareness Month - Kansas City infoZine
November Is National Epilepsy Awareness Month
Kansas City infoZine, MO - 10 hours ago
Jefferson City, MO - infoZine - Missourians made more visits to emergency room hospitals for epilepsy in 2006 compared to 2000, and educating people about ...
U.Va.'s Dr. Jaideep Kapur Named Vice President of American ... - University o...
U.Va.'s Dr. Jaideep Kapur Named Vice President of American ...
University of Virginia, VA - 15 hours ago
Internationally recognized for his research in epilepsy, Kapur's laboratory is concerned with understanding the mechanisms underlying status epilepticus, ...
Gene Associated With Epilepsy Discovered - Science Daily (press release)
Gene Associated With Epilepsy Discovered
Science Daily (press release) - Nov 18, 2008
18, 2008) ? A University of Iowa-led international research team has found a new gene associated with the brain disorder epilepsy. While the PRICKLE1 gene ...
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Yahoo!
Yahoo! News Search Results for epilepsy
Yahoo! News Search Results for epilepsy
Removing Part Of Brain Controls Girl's Epilepsy (Science Daily)
Surgeons told Jessica Nelson one of the scariest things she will ever hear as a parent: they wanted to treat her daughter's epilepsy by cutting out or disconnecting half of her brain. Then something extraordinary happened: it worked.
International Team Finds Gene Associated With Epilepsy (Medical News Today)
A University of Iowa-led international research team has found a new gene associated with the brain disorder epilepsy. While the PRICKLE1 gene mutation was specific to a rare form of epilepsy, the study results could help lead to new ideas for overall epilepsy treatment. The findings, which involved nearly two dozen institutions from six different countries, appear in the Nov.
Epilepsy Foundation (KAMR Amarillo)
A local non-profit association has now become a national chapter. The High Plains Epilepsy Association has been in West Texas for over 30 years. They serve 79 counties in the panhandle. And today they are being named the newest chapter of the Epilepsy Foundation of America.
Discovery of new gene linked to epilepsy (News-Medical-Net)
A University of Iowa-led international research team has found a new gene associated with the brain disorder epilepsy.
November Is National Epilepsy Awareness Month (Kansas City InfoZine)
Condition is most often managed with prescription medications
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