Although much remains to be learned about the causes and treatment of seizures, the following is a guide for the layman for understanding and managing seizures and epilepsy.
Epilepsy is simply a condition where the patient experiences recurrent seizures.
This article will apply both to humans as well as animals, with the understanding that some of the treatments may only apply to one or the other. Seizures are both mysterious and frightening, and can range from the mildly annoying to life threatening in severity. Seizures were often referred to historically as convulsions or fits. Seizures are classified on several dimensions, including the amount of the body they affect, the cause and the duration. Petit Mal or Focal seizure involves the convulsion of a part of the body Absence An Absence seizure is one in which the patient becomes unresponsive, often with little or no memory of the occurrence.