Epilepsy

Question 1

What is epilepsy?

Answer 1

A common condition that affects the brain & causes frequent seizures.

Question 2

What are seizures?

Answer 2

Bursts of electrical activity in the brain that temporarily affect how it works.

Question 3

What is epilepsy caused by?

Answer 3

• Genetic Disorders.
• Tumour.
• Trauma.
• Brain infection.

Question 4

What are the (2) types of seizures?

Answer 4

• Generalised seizures.
• Focal seizures.

Question 5

What are the generalised seizures?

Answer 5

• Tonic-clonic seizures (“grand mal”).
• Absence seizures (“petit mal”).

Question 6

What are the focal seizures?

Answer 6

• With partial awareness (“simple partial”).
• With impaired awareness (“complex partial”).

Question 7

What are motor symptoms of focal seizures?

Answer 7

• Jerking (‘clonic’).
• Limp or weak muscles (‘atonic’).
• Brief muscle twitching (‘myoclonus’).
• Epileptic spasms (body flexes and extends repeatedly).
• ‘Automatisms’, repeated automatic movements (clapping, rubbing hands, lip smacking, chewing, running).

Question 8

What are non-motor symptoms of focal seizures?

Answer 8

• Sensation changes.
• Emotions.
• Thinking/cognition.
• Autonomic functions (gastrointestinal, hot/cold, goosebumps, heart racing).

Question 9

What are motor symptoms of generalised seizures?

Answer 9

• Sustained rhythmical jerking movements (‘clonic’).
• Limp or weak muscles (‘atonic’).
• Tense or rigid muscles (‘tonic’).
• Brief muscle twitching (‘myoclonus’).
• Epileptic spasms (body flexes and extends repeatedly).

Question 10

What are non-motor symptoms of generalised seizures?

Answer 10

‘Absent seizures’.
- Staring spells.
- Brief twitches (‘myoclonus’) that affect specific body parts or just the eyelids.

Question 11

How can seizures appear in someone with a learning disability?

Answer 11

• More frequent seizures.
• Longer seizures.
• Seizures may be too complex to put into a typical seizure ‘category’.
• More than one type of seizure, and could have one type of seizure closely followed byanother type of seizure.
• Seizures may include subtle movements or behaviours that can be difficult to recognise as a seizure, sometimes described as ‘atypical’.
  (Can also just be ‘normal’)

Question 12

How is epilepsy treated in people with a learning disability?

Answer 12

Anti-seizure medication (ASM) to prevent.
- Some find it hard to understand how and why they need to take their ASM so may require help.

Question 13

What do you do in the event of a seizure?

Answer 13

• Move objects and/or furniture away so that they don’t injure themselves.
• Time the seizure and call for emergency help if the seizure lasts more than 5 minutes, if there are repeated seizures, or if the person is injured or has difficulty breathing.
• Make the individual comfortable when the seizure stops.
• Consider turning the person on their side after the seizure during the period of recovery.
• Expect to find that the person who has had the seizure will be confused & tired afterwards.

Question 14

What don’t you do in the event of a seizure?

Answer 14

• Don’t try to hold someone down when they’re having a seizure.
• Don’ttry to put anything in the mouth of someone having a seizure.