Epilepsy

The X-Plain Tutorial , a project of the Patient Education Institute and the National Library of Medicine, explains the brain’s function, what a seizure is, epilepsy’s causes, treatments, and living with epilepsy. A PDF version is also available.

Epilepsy.com is a site founded by a doctor and a man whose daughter has epilepsy, with an editorial board comprised of doctors from around the country. Look for extensive resources, such as this three-minute audio cast that describes part of the brain’s anatomy, seizures, and how they differ from epilepsy.

KidsHealth describes epilepsy and its causes. Read about the triggers that can cause seizures, such as stress, sleep deprivation, and fever.

Neurology Channel is part of Healthcommunities.com, a series of sites monitored by doctors. Explore some of the causes of seizures and epilepsy. Learn how head injuries, genetics, kidney problems, and withdrawing from some drugs (both lawful and illicit) can cause seizures.

The Epilepsy Foundation explains that in many cases, the exact cause of epilepsy can’t be pinpointed. Find epilepsy’s potential causes among members of the following groups: newborns, infants and children, children and adults, and the elderly.

Mayo Clinic describes different types of partial seizures, which affect part of the brain, and generalized seizures, which involve more than one part of the brain.

Epilepsy.com has detailed descriptions of the types of epilepsy, listed on the left sidebar. Also find information on the types of seizures and their symptoms.

The Epilepsy Foundation describes a range of impacts the disease can have on people’s lives, from “uncomplicated” to “devastated.” Get a glimpse of the kinds of issues that could arise while trying to treat epilepsy, such as memory loss or side effects from high doses of medication.

The World Health Organization has a brief history of epilepsy, which dates as far back as 2000 BCE. Read how Babylonian medical literature from that period actually discusses different types of seizures that are seen in the modern era, and learn why the 19th Century is so important in the history of the disease. Unfortunately, the history of epilepsy is also one of misunderstanding, stigma, and fear. In the 1800s, medical research led to theories that epilepsy was a brain disorder, and not a form of madness or possession, as was long believed. The first useful medication for epilepsy, bromide, was introduced in 1857.