Causes of epilepsy and factors that can increase the risk

Epilepsy or what is known as "epilepsy" is a disorder of the nervous system due to abnormal electrical activity in the brain. This condition causes various reactions in the human body such as daydreaming, tingling sensations, impaired consciousness, convulsions and / or muscle contractions. However, do you know what causes epilepsy? Want to know the answer? Check out the following reviews.

Causes of epilepsy in children and adults

At least once in a person's life they have had a seizure. However, if the seizures persist, this could be a symptom of epilepsy.

The cause of this disease is not known with certainty. However, the results of examinations of the brain show abnormal electrical activity in the brain when the seizure occurs.

Launching from the Mayo Clinic page, there are several factors and conditions that can cause abnormal activity in the brain which may also be the cause of epilepsy in children and adults, including:

1. Genetic

Although rare, gene mutations that are inherited from parents can cause epilepsy in the offspring. That means, someone who has family members with epilepsy, has the possibility of contracting the same disease.

Usually, people with epilepsy who are motivated by genes will show symptoms earlier. Whether it's when I was a baby, children, or in adolescence.

The results found that certain genes can make a person more sensitive to conditions that trigger seizures. The genes that cause epilepsy are SLC2A1, LGI1, and DEPDC5.

If epilepsy occurs in your family, you should do genetic testing and consult a doctor. The goal, to see how much chance you have of epilepsy. That way, doctors can get direction to take steps to prevent disease development in the future.

2. Injury to the head

Seizures, which are one of the typical symptoms of epilepsy, occur due to abnormal activity in the brain. So, from this it can be concluded that an injury to the head, which is where your brain is located, can be the cause of epilepsy.

You can get a head injury in a vehicle accident, fall from a high place, or get hit by a heavy object on the head. This condition is estimated to affect 35 percent of children and 15 percent of adults.

The timing of the onset of epilepsy symptoms in head injury patients varies widely. About 50 percent of cases have a seizure within the first 24 hours, the remaining one to four weeks after the head injury occurs.

3. Problems with the brain

Apart from head injuries, other possible causes of epilepsy include damage to the brain due to strokes and brain tumors. Stroke is known to be the main trigger for epilepsy in adults aged 35 years and over.

Stroke itself is a condition of a broken blood vessel in the brain or a clot that blocks blood supply to the brain. Your body has one seizure after a stroke occurs.

If you have not had epilepsy before, you will likely develop this disease at a later date. Certain types of stroke that can cause severe bleeding, could lead to epilepsy in the near future.

While brain tumors cause abnormal tissue in the brain. This condition is known to trigger repeated seizures.

4. The presence of disease due to infection

Infection of the nervous system can result in seizure activity. These include infections of the brain and spinal fluid or meningitis, brain infections or encephalitis, and viruses that affect human immunity (HIV), as well as related human neurological and immune infections that can trigger epilepsy.

5. Impaired brain development and brain damage

The cause of epilepsy that occurs in infants or children is a developmental disorder, such as autism or neurofibromatosis. Autism makes your little one experience seizures and this occurs due to disorders of brain development during pregnancy for which the cause is not known for sure.

Autism itself is a brain function disorder that affects the human ability to think and behave. Epilepsy can occur at the same time as autism or the symptoms will appear only after autism occurs.

Meanwhile, neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow in nerve tissue that makes a person susceptible to cancer and seizures.

In addition, another cause of epilepsy that may affect babies and children is brain damage due to the mother's infection, lack of oxygen, or malnutrition.

The cause of the high risk of epilepsy

In some people, the risk of epilepsy may be greater than in others. Well, several factors that can increase the risk of epilepsy are:

1. Age

Epilepsy generally occurs in young children and the elderly. Usually young children who are only 1 or 2 years old will experience seizures or seizures due to epilepsy. After a person reaches 35 years of age and over, the rate of new cases of epilepsy that begins to appear increases.

2. Doing high activity brain injury

Brain damage or injury occurs when brain cells known as neurons become destroyed. This can be caused by physical damage, among others, after surgery to the brain, accidents, collisions, and things that cause nerve damage to the human brain.

This condition is very likely to occur in people who work at high places, racers, boxers, or who work with operating vehicles.

3. Have heart disease and dementia

People who have heart disease are prone to stroke disease. Yes, this is because the heart, which is in charge of pumping blood throughout the body, has a problem, which blocks the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the brain. This stroke will later be the cause of epilepsy.

The risk is also in people with dementia, which is a group of brain function disorders that affect the ability to think, communicate and socialize. This disease can over time damage brain cells and possibly trigger abnormal activity in the brain, causing the body to go into convulsions.

The causes of epilepsy recur

Epilepsy is a disease that is recurrent in nature. Symptoms can appear anytime and anywhere. In addition to understanding the underlying causes of the disease, you also need to know the causes of recurrence.

More specifically, here are some things that can cause epilepsy sufferers to experience recurrence:

• Skipping a dose of medication. Epilepsy is required to take antiepileptic drugs regularly to prevent recurrence of symptoms. If you miss a dose or don't take the medicine as directed by your doctor, your symptoms may recur. Therefore, the drug must be taken regularly according to the doctor's instructions.
• Lack of sleep and stress.Lack of sleep can interfere with electrical activity in the brain, which can cause epilepsy symptoms to recur. In addition, this condition is also easier for you to stress. As a result, the risk of relapse will be greater.
• Drink excessively alcohol.Uncontrolled drinking of alcohol can also cause epilepsy symptoms to recur. We recommend that during the treatment period, you need to stop this habit.