Epilepsy

Epilepsy affects more than 600,000 people in the UK. Almost one in every 100 people has the condition.



The cells in the brain, known as neurons, conduct electrical signals. They communicate with each other in the brain using chemical messengers. During a seizure, there are abnormal bursts of neurons firing off electrical impulses. This can cause the brain and body to behave strangely.

The severity of seizures can differ from person to person. Some people experience an odd feeling with no loss of awareness, or may have a “trance-like” state for a few seconds or minutes. Others lose consciousness and have convulsions (uncontrollable shaking of the body).

Some people might only have a single seizure. If they do not have a high risk of having further seizures, they would not be regarded as having epilepsy.

Types of seizures

People with epilepsy can experience any type of seizure, although most people have a consistent pattern of symptoms.

Seizures can occur when you’re awake or asleep.

The type of seizure depends on how much of the brain it affects. There are:

focal (or partial) seizures – where only a small part of the brain is affected generalised seizures – where most or all of the brain is affected

Some seizures do not fit into these categories and are known as unclassified seizures.

Focal seizures

There are two main types of focal seizure.

Focal aware seizures Focal aware seizures are where you remain fully conscious throughout. Symptoms of a focal aware seizure can include: a general strange feeling that is hard to describe a “rising” feeling in your tummy – sometimes likened to the sensation in your stomach when on a fairground ride an intense feeling that events have happened before (déjà vu) experiencing an unusual smell or taste a tingling sensation, or “pins and needles”, in your arms and legs a sudden intense feeling of fear or joy stiffness or twitching in part of the body, such as an arm or hand These seizures are sometimes known as “warnings” or “auras”, because they can be a sign that another type of seizure is on its way. This can give you time to warn people around you and make sure you’re in a safe place.

Focal impaired awareness seizures Focal impaired awareness seizures are when you lose your sense of awareness. You won’t remember what happened after this type of seizure. The symptoms of a focal impaired awareness seizure can involve random bodily behaviour, like: smacking your lips rubbing your hands making random noises moving your arms around picking at clothes fiddling with objects adopting an unusual posture chewing or swallowing During a focal impaired awareness seizure, you’ll not be able to respond to anyone else. You’ll usually have no memory of it.

Generalised seizures

There are 6 main types of generalised seizure.

Absences Absence seizures mainly affect children, but they also occur in adults. They cause the person to lose awareness of their surroundings, usually for up to 15 seconds. The person will seem to stare vacantly into space. Some people will flutter their eyes or smack their lips. The person will have no memory of the seizure. Absences can occur several times a day. They may affect a child’s performance at school. They can be dangerous if they occur at a critical time, like crossing a busy road.

Myoclonic seizures These types of seizures cause your arms, legs or upper body to jerk or twitch, as if you have received an electric shock. They often only last for a fraction of a second, and you’ll normally remain conscious during this time. Myoclonic jerks often happen in the first few hours after waking up. They can occur in combination with other types of generalised seizures.

Clonic seizures These cause the same sort of twitching as myoclonic jerks, except the symptoms will last longer, normally up to 2 minutes. You might lose consciousness during a clonic seizure.

Atonic seizures Atonic seizures cause all your muscles to relax suddenly. There’s a chance you may fall to the ground and you could injure yourself.

Tonic seizures Tonic seizures cause all your muscles to suddenly become stiff. You might lose balance and fall over. Like atonic seizures, there’s a risk of injury.

Tonic-clonic seizures Tonic-clonic seizures or convulsions have 2 stages. Your body will initially become stiff and then your arms and legs will begin twitching. You’ll lose consciousness and some people will wet themselves. The seizure normally lasts a minute, but can last longer. This type of seizure is what most people think of as an epileptic fit.

Myoclonic-tonic-clonic seizures and Myoclonic-atonic are seizures involving a combination of the generalised seizures above.

Symptoms

The main symptoms of epilepsy are repeated seizures. There are different types of seizure, depending on which part of the brain it affects.

The cells in the brain, known as neurons, conduct electrical signals. They communicate with each other in the brain using chemical messengers. During a seizure, there are abnormal bursts of neurons firing off electrical impulses. This can cause the brain and body to behave strangely.

The severity of seizures can differ from person to person. Some people experience an odd feeling with no loss of awareness, or may have a “trance-like” state for a few seconds or minutes. Others lose consciousness and have convulsions (uncontrollable shaking of the body).

Some people might only have a single seizure. If they do not have a high risk of having further seizures, they would not be regarded as having epilepsy.

Types of seizures

People with epilepsy can experience any type of seizure, although most people have a consistent pattern of symptoms.

Seizures can occur when you’re awake or asleep.

The type of seizure depends on how much of the brain it affects. There are:

focal (or partial) seizures – where only a small part of the brain is affected generalised seizures – where most or all of the brain is affected

Some seizures do not fit into these categories and are known as unclassified seizures.

Focal seizures

There are two main types of focal seizure.

Focal aware seizures Focal aware seizures are where you remain fully conscious throughout. Symptoms of a focal aware seizure can include: a general strange feeling that is hard to describe a “rising” feeling in your tummy – sometimes likened to the sensation in your stomach when on a fairground ride an intense feeling that events have happened before (déjà vu) experiencing an unusual smell or taste a tingling sensation, or “pins and needles”, in your arms and legs a sudden intense feeling of fear or joy stiffness or twitching in part of the body, such as an arm or hand These seizures are sometimes known as “warnings” or “auras”, because they can be a sign that another type of seizure is on its way. This can give you time to warn people around you and make sure you’re in a safe place.

Focal impaired awareness seizures Focal impaired awareness seizures are when you lose your sense of awareness. You won’t remember what happened after this type of seizure. The symptoms of a focal impaired awareness seizure can involve random bodily behaviour, like: smacking your lips rubbing your hands making random noises moving your arms around picking at clothes fiddling with objects adopting an unusual posture chewing or swallowing During a focal impaired awareness seizure, you’ll not be able to respond to anyone else. You’ll usually have no memory of it.

Generalised seizures

There are 6 main types of generalised seizure.

Absences Absence seizures mainly affect children, but they also occur in adults. They cause the person to lose awareness of their surroundings, usually for up to 15 seconds. The person will seem to stare vacantly into space. Some people will flutter their eyes or smack their lips. The person will have no memory of the seizure. Absences can occur several times a day. They may affect a child’s performance at school. They can be dangerous if they occur at a critical time, like crossing a busy road.

Myoclonic seizures These types of seizures cause your arms, legs or upper body to jerk or twitch, as if you have received an electric shock. They often only last for a fraction of a second, and you’ll normally remain conscious during this time. Myoclonic jerks often happen in the first few hours after waking up. They can occur in combination with other types of generalised seizures.

Clonic seizures These cause the same sort of twitching as myoclonic jerks, except the symptoms will last longer, normally up to 2 minutes. You might lose consciousness during a clonic seizure.

Atonic seizures Atonic seizures cause all your muscles to relax suddenly. There’s a chance you may fall to the ground and you could injure yourself.

Tonic seizures Tonic seizures cause all your muscles to suddenly become stiff. You might lose balance and fall over. Like atonic seizures, there’s a risk of injury.

Tonic-clonic seizures Tonic-clonic seizures or convulsions have 2 stages. Your body will initially become stiff and then your arms and legs will begin twitching. You’ll lose consciousness and some people will wet themselves. The seizure normally lasts a minute, but can last longer. This type of seizure is what most people think of as an epileptic fit.

Myoclonic-tonic-clonic seizures and Myoclonic-atonic are seizures involving a combination of the generalised seizures above.