Overview of Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that leads to serious, disruptive physical symptoms. Idiopathic generalized epilepsy is a condition that affects an individual's entire brain--"generalized"--with no known cause or trigger--"idiopathic."

The Facts

• Idiopathic generalized epilepsy affects the entire brain, and is the more serious form of epilepsy. Episodes are very violent, and sometimes result in a loss of consciousness. Generalized epileptic seizures include absence seizures ("blanking out"), myoclonic seizures (brief jerking of muscles), atonic seizures (loss of muscle strength that results in falling), tonic seizures (sudden stiffening of muscles), clonic seizures (rhythmic jerking) and tonic-clonic seizures (jerking of stiffened muscles).

Causes

• Epilepsy is cased by chemical malfunctions in the brain. The neurons responsible for signaling movement misfire and cause unplanned, exaggerated movement. This results in the seizure activity of an epileptic episode. Idiopathic generalized seizures occur when this misfiring takes place in both sides of the brain, rather than in specific areas.

Seizures

• Seizures progress through some standard phases, regardless of the individual or type of epilepsy. The "aura" is a phase of warning before a seizure: an individual becomes agitated and experiences neurological changes in taste, sight and smell. The "ictus" phase is the physical seizure. During the "postical" phase, the individual experiences a gradual recovery from the episode.

Treatments

• Individuals who have epilepsy receive consistent proven methods of treatment. Anti-seizure and anti-epilepsy medications seek to prevent seizures and control the violence of the seizures that do occur. Epileptics and their families are taught to manage the seizures: recognize the signs of oncoming seizure and get safely through the seizure.

Partial Seizures

• Partial seizures occur when only specific areas of the brain are affected, and are usually milder than generalized seizures. While generalized seizures can result in loss of consciousness and injury, partial seizures may be as simple as a twitching eyelid.