What Effects Does Epilepsy Have on the Body?

Epilepsy is a disease of the brain. It matriculates in episodes of disturbed brain function (seizures) that are caused by increased cerebral activity. Most often, seizures are brief and cause little damage to the body. In rare occasions, seizures are severe enough to cause permanent mental or physical damage and are accompanied by acute emotional/psychological stress.

Seizures

• Perhaps the most well-known or familiar symptom associated with epilepsy is the epileptic seizure. When seizures occur, they are often violent and unpredictable. The victim may lose consciousness, collapse, drool, lose urinary control and convulse. Seizures typically leave the victim disoriented and physically exhausted. Associated with seizures is a spike in brain activity. During a seizure, neurons in the brain fire as many as 500 times per second, which is much faster than usual. While not always accompanied by seizures, heightened brain activity in epileptics may occur occasionally or hundreds of times per day.

Effects

• There are several bodily side effects that may occur on account of an epileptic seizure. The victim may inhale fluid into the lungs, leading to aspiration pneumonia. Seizures during pregnancy have been known to cause certain birth defects. A victim may accidentally bite himself during a seizure, causing external damage to the body.

  Damage to the body caused by seizures is often indirect. For example, a victim may collapse and strike his head against a hard surface, causing trauma and injury. Seizures that occur while driving or operating heavy machinery may result in severe physical harm.

Emotional

• Epilepsy is often associated with heightened emotional and psychological stress. Because epileptic seizures are unpredictable, there is commonly a great level of anxiety that accompanies a victim's everyday activities. Anxiety is usually associated with the fear of losing physical control over one's body, death or the inability to socialize normally. Epilepsy may cause its victims to feel ostracized from society or maintain an acute sense of loneliness or individuality.

Severe

• In severe cases, epileptic seizures may result in brain damage or death. Cases of this occurring are very rare. In cases where brain damage or death does occur, seizures are usually long-lasting and violent. Two seizures occurring in close succession to one another (status epilepticus) may also cause severe complications.

Misconceptions

• Epilepsy is not contagious, nor is it caused by mental retardation or mental illness. In fact, epileptic seizures are not usually detrimental to the wellness of the brain in any way. Severe seizures may sometimes cause brain damage, but damage is usually minimal. Most people with epilepsy are able to maintain proper brain function and many have above-average intelligence levels.