Smaller attacks may occur, with just staring spells, an unusual behaivor, or movements of one arm or leg. When seizures occur again and again, the patient is said to have epilepsy. Seizures may occur throughout the lifespan - from the tiny newborn with birth injury, to the elderly with Alzheimer's disease. Young children may develop seizures at times of high fever. Sometimes seizures occur as an acute warning that there is an underlying problem which needs attention, such as uncontrolled hypertension, a disturbance in blood sugar, a brain tumor or other disturbance in the brain.
Epilepsy is a condition in which seizures recur again and again.
In most cases of epilepsy, there is no specific acute cause. Instead, perhaps a minor brain injury in the period surrounding birth or an inherited tendency towards having seizures produces the episodes. Treatment with anti-epileptic medications usually reduces seizure frequency or eliminates seizures. Most persons with epilepsy are relatively well between episodes, and lead normallives. In some cases, standard medications fail to provide control, and patients are referred to Comprehensive Epilepsy Centers such as ours for expert management of drug therapy, experimental anti-epileptic drugs, and consideration for epilepsy surgery.