Epilepsy

Contact Help Group: Brain Wave
Tel: 01 4557500
Email: info@epilepsy.ie

Epilepsy is a neurological condition which presents in as many as 50 different types. It is diagnosed when someone has recurrent seizures (also known to many people as fits, grand mal, petit mal, absences). It is caused by excess electrical activity in the brain. While no official statistics are available, comparative US and UK studies would indicate that at least 25,000 people in the Republic of Ireland are affected by epilepsy.

In at least 50% of cases no cause is identified. Any person's brain has the capacity to produce a seizure, if the circumstances are appropriate. Most brains are not likely to do this spontaneously and can, therefore, be said to have a high "seizure threshold" or high resistance to seizures. Individuals vary as to their threshold and it is probably one part of the genetic characteristics.

In most cases epilepsy is treated with medication. Over the past decades new drugs for epilepsy have become available which allow many people with epilepsy to live virtually seizure free lives.