Epilepsy is one of the oldest diseases known to us. In the past, it was associated with the unclean forces. It was believed that during an attack, sick people possessed by evil demons infect others through their breath. Today, many centuries later, it still inspires fear and prejudice. What is epilepsy really, what happens to the patient during an attack? Together with epileptolig, prof. extra dr hab. n. med. Beata Majkowska-Zwolińska, we debunk the myths related to this disease.
- Epilepsy is not a mental disorder or disease. It is a neurological disease. Its essence is repeated epileptic seizures
- There are no sensations during seizures, accompanied by a disturbance in consciousness or consciousness. Even if outsiders think that he is suffering, he does not feel pain
- There are also epileptic seizures where the patient feels differently. These can be olfactory, visual or auditory hallucinations. The patient realizes what is happening to him
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An epilepsy neurologist. Since 1993, she has been continuously associated with the Warsaw Center for Epilepsy Diagnostics and Treatment. She worked, among others at the Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of Warsaw, in the team dealing with preoperative diagnostics and treatment of patients with epilepsy. Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Epileptology – a leading scientific journal devoted to epilepsy, and editor of the Epileptologia quarterly.
In addition to medical practice, she is involved in numerous scientific works, conducts training courses, seminars and exercises in the field of neurology for students of medical faculties.
Monika Mikołajska / Medonet: When we think: epilepsy, before our eyes we see a tense, arched body shaken by convulsions, eyes are turned upwards, foam is rolling from the mouth … Such an image immediately evokes fear, both in the face of the situation and the situation itself sick. We think that something terrible is happening to this man. Does an epilepsy attack always look like this?
Prof. Beata Majkowska-Zwolińska, epileptologist: This is known as a generalized seizure. It can actually result in a fall, stretching of the body, convulsions, sometimes it is associated with the discharge of saliva, sometimes it is stained with blood when the tongue is bitten … This is a common image that we recall when thinking about a person with an epileptic seizure. Indeed, it can look quite dramatic to the observer. Fear is born. Most often it results from ignorance – we do not know what we can do, how to help, so we want to move away from this situation as soon as possible.
It is worth emphasizing that seizures of this type are not the most common. There are many types of seizures. They look slightly different in children than in adults, especially in the elderly. It happens that outsiders do not even notice that the patient is undergoing such a state.
How does such an epilepsy attack look like then?
It may be a disturbance of consciousness, lasting several seconds, one minute or two. Then there is no fall and loss of consciousness. The sick person may walk or, for example, sit next to us at the table, but then he does not make contact – he does not respond, we have the impression that he cannot hear us, his eyesight may seem absent. During an epileptic seizure, a person may be motionless, but may also make some sort of automatic hand or body movements. These may seem intentional to the observer, but the patient is not actually aware of them.
Most people do not associate this behavior with an epileptic seizure. Rather, it is interpreted as strange, incomprehensible, disturbing.
That is probably why epilepsy is sometimes equated with a mental illness. Let’s debunk this myth and explain what this disease is all about.
Epilepsy is not a mental disorder or disease. It is a neurological disease. Its essence is repeated epileptic seizures. They are caused by a temporary bioelectric discharge in the brain. Epilepsy is a very heterogeneous disease. And this is in terms of causes, course – as discussed above – and patients’ response to drugs.
Coming back to the seizures themselves – does the patient feel pain during them, does he remember what happened?
During seizures accompanied by a disturbance in consciousness or consciousness, there are no sensations. Even if outsiders think that he is suffering, he does not feel pain. He may not be aware that he has had a seizure, may not remember it at all. Of course, if a patient wakes up after a generalized attack and sees that, for example, he is on the floor, he realizes what happened.
- If the situation is not urgent, we can consult a doctor without leaving home, using telemedicine. For this, the patient can make an appointment with a neurologist for a television visit.
There are also epileptic seizures where the patient feels differently. It may be, for example, a feeling of a wave rising from the stomach and accompanying discomfort or nausea. It may be anxiety, tingling in the hand, sensory disturbance, convulsions in one limb. Finally, they can be olfactory hallucinations, e.g. perception of non-existent smells, visual or auditory hallucinations. All these sensations are epileptic seizures and the patient is already aware of it. There is no disturbance of consciousness here. Such a seizure may progress to the next stages, and thus may result in a loss of consciousness or consciousness.
Read the second part of the interview with prof. extra dr hab. n. med. Beata Majkowska-Zwolińska: In 1997, in Japan, after the broadcast of the movie about Pokemon, an unusual event occurred – there were 700 cases of seizures [EXPLAINED]
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