Download Outline format

Student 1
Former Student
Miss O’Dell
Alt. English
20 December 2011
Epilepsy
Some people know what Epilepsy is; some people know what it is but don’t know
what it’s about, they know it has to do with seizures, but that’s about all they know, and
some people have absolutely no clue what Epilepsy even is. No one can ever understand
what Epilepsy patients go through unless they have actually experienced it. My baby
sister suffers from Epilepsy, and barely anyone understands what Epilepsy is or what it’s
about. They know it’s about seizures, but there is so much more to Epilepsy than just its
seizures.
There isn’t just one type of Epilepsy, there are many types. Temporal Lobe
Epilepsy is the most common type. Symptoms are a sense of déjà vu or a bad feeling in
your stomach. If this type of Epilepsy is left untreated, it can damage the part of your
brain that help you remember & learn things. Parietal Lobe Epilepsy is one of the less
severe types. It is located between the frontal and temporal lobes. Parietal are like those
two because the seizures spread to other parts of the brain. Absence Epilepsy is one type
that begins at childhood. It doesn’t have long effects on your brain or the intelligence of
the person who has it. The bad part about it is that it affects your learning because they
happen so many times during the day. They happen maybe at least 100 times a day.
Absence seizures cause you to lose consciousness but only lasts for about 30 seconds.
Occipital Lobe Epilepsy. Occipital Epilepsy is located at the back of the head. It is
somewhat like the Frontal and Temporal Lobes but Occipital is related to the eyes. The
symptoms are shown in the eyes, like fast, rapid blinking. Frontal Lobe Epilepsy affects
Student 2
where the forehead is. Frontal Lobe causes short seizures that start and then stop quickly.
The problem with Frontal Lobe is that it can be noticed as something different other than
Epilepsy when it is first noticed. If you went in to check to see what you might have, they
will think it is something completely different (Types of Epilepsy).Therefore, there isn’t
just one type of Epilepsy, there are five types, with five different symptoms and affects,
and it is easy to get any five of them.
There are mainly three different kinds of seizures, but there are symptoms to show
if you are having a seizure and seizure precipitants. Complex seizures are the least bad
type of seizure. These seizures only affect a certain level of consciousness. You possibly
could also lose consciousness completely (Epilepsy Symptoms). Partial seizures with
Secondary Generalization. These types of seizures start as a complex seizure, only
affecting a level of consciousness, but then spread to the rest of the brain (Epilepsy
Symptoms). Generalized Tonic-Clonic seizures are probably the worst of the seizures.
When these seizures happen, the person having them will usually fall to the ground, and
their body will stiffen up and the person’s muscles begin to have spasms. This will look
like the person is shaking (Epilepsy Symptoms).
You can tell when a person is having a seizure if the symptoms are the same.
Symptoms to show that you are having a seizure are signs like, fast eye movements, your
body starts shaking uncontrollably, your mood suddenly changes, you randomly start
falling out of no-where, you get muscles spasms and your body starts to jerk, and you
blackout and are confused afterwards (Seizures). There’s a few things that affect how and
when you will have a seizure by just by how you act in your daily life. There are a few
things that can act as seizure precipitants, such as emotional stress. 80% - 90% of
seizures happen because of emotional stress, or any kind of stress. Lack of sleep, not
eating healthy and low blood sugar can also cause you to have seizures. Also allergies,
Student 3
fevers, colds, or fatigue (93). Seizures can be scary, especially for the people going
through them, but you can help them get through it with your help.
There are some tests and drug diagnosis that can be taken to help better your
Epilepsy or help find out how serious it could be. The tests taken aren’t very serious or
time consuming, and can help figure out how serious your Epilepsy is. The tests are tests
like recording brain waves by electroencephalography, a CAT scan, or an MRI.
Phenytoin was the first drug for Epilepsy that wasn’t sedative. The most common side
effect it has was tiredness. Also dizziness can happen too. A rash may occur and may also
lead to a serious reaction, but it was very effective when it came to partial seizures (102103). Ethosuximide was mostly used for absence seizures, which mostly occurred in kids.
It has no affect on any other kinds of seizures except the absence seizures. It was very
few side effects, except tiredness, dizziness and stomach aches have been noticed. But
since absence seizures happen more with kids, it is more common that kids will take this
drug (104). Felbatol was the first new drug in 15 years and was approved in 1993. Some
older drugs caused people to gain weight, but Felbatol caused patients to lose weight, and
also worked on all types of seizures, not just one. In less than a year, 100,000 patients
used Felbatol (112-113). In conclusion, many drugs were made to help the patients with
Epilepsy and more and more are going to be made at the years to go by and we hope that
they help them get through it.
My baby sister suffers from Epilepsy, and barely anyone understands what
Epilepsy is or what it’s about. They know it’s about seizures, but there is so much more
to Epilepsy than just its seizures