Just as there are different kinds of seizures, there are different kinds of epilepsy. Epilepsy is a syndrome. A syndrome is a collection of symptoms and physical signs that occurs due to a specific disease. Symptoms are problems that a person experiences due to an illness. Fever and pain are two examples of symptoms.
Physical signs are abnormalities which can be seen on a physical examination.
Redness and swelling are two examples of physical signs. In the syndrome of epilepsy, seizures are one of the symptoms. That means that approximately 8 million American have had a seizure, while 2.5 million Americans have epilepsy. There are many different causes of epilepsy. Most often, the cause is head injury such as an automobile accident or gunshot wound.