Epilepsy: The Abnormal Disorder

Ash Merritt
Staff Writer 
  Epilepsy is a common disorder which causes the nerve cells in the brain to be disturbed by a change in the firing pattern of neurons, causing seizures that affect day-to-day life. Epilepsy can make life difficult, especially with the causes of obtaining the disorder, the risk factors, and the complications it brings.
  Mayo Clinic states, “Epilepsy has no identifiable cause in about half the people with the condition. In the other half, the condition may be traced to various factors such as genetic influence, brain abnormalities, and developmental disorders. Some types of epilepsy, which are categorized by the type of seizure you experience or the part of the brain that is affected, [tend to] run in families.” Epilepsy has been connected to some genetics; although the genes are only part of the cause. “Before birth, babies are sensitive to brain damage that could be caused by several factors, such as an infection in the mother, poor nutrition or oxygen deficiencies. This brain damage can result in epilepsy or Cerebral Palsy.” These disorders could be caused by many factors. For example, the mother might not know about the consequences of her actions or she chooses not to acknowledge them. 
  There are a good amount of risk factors that play into epilepsy that can cause this disorder and bring more concern for a person. Winchester Hospital states that epilepsy can be caused by other things like Meningitis, AIDS, Viral Encephalitis, head injuries, lack of oxygen in the brain, strokes, problems with vesicles in the brain, and brain tumors. Meningitis can root to epilepsy because of the unregulated seizures that are caused by this infection. Another disease called viral encephalitis based on the bursts of abnormal synchronized activity form seizures as well. These details show that this disorder can be obtained by a multitude of unknown occurrences of life. 
  In addition, epilepsy has many complications to know and understand. Mayo Clinic states, “Having a seizure at certain times can lead to circumstances that are dangerous to yourself or others.” Some of these dangers expressed are drowning, mental health, falling, status epilepticus, pregnancy complications, and car accidents. These elements are key to know because if someone does not know about the complications, then people who have this disorder could get seriously hurt. 
  In short, epilepsy is something common. A condition that is caused by genetic influence, brain abnormalities, and developmental disorders. The risk factors and complications bring a difficulty to a person's day-to-day life.