Epilepsy Fact Sheet for Children

Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes seizures. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, around 300,000 children in the United States under age 14 have epilepsy. The foundation also states that 50 percent of all cases of epilepsy start in those under age 25. The condition can be outgrown within a few years or lifelong, depending on severity. There have been advances in the treatment of childhood epilepsy, which have resulted in better quality of life for those with the condition. Early detection leads to better treatment.

Cause

• Seven out of every 10 cases of epilepsy is idiopathic, or without known cause. Brain development problems, lack of oxygen during or following birth, scars on the brain from head injury, structural problems with the brain, prolonged seizures with fevers, tumors or infections such as meningitis and encephalitis are reasons for symptomatic epilepsy, or epilepsy in which a cause is known. (See reference 1)

Considerations

• Research suggests certain types of epilepsy (absence and myoclonic) have genetic components because they tend to run in families. Often, extended families have more than one person with epilepsy. This, along with a slightly increased risk of epilepsy for people with close relatives with seizure disorders, lends more credence to a genetic factor in the condition. (See reference 1)

Types

• Epileptic seizures are categorized into two types: primary generalized and partial seizures. Seizures that have widespread electrical discharge and begin on both sides of the brain are primary generalized seizures, and often have a hereditary component. When electrical discharge is limited to only one part of the brain, it is called a partial seizure. (See reference 3)

Diagnosis

• An epilepsy diagnosis only occurs after a person has two or more seizures not related to other causes such as low blood sugar. A detailed history of seizures is needed to make a diagnosis. The history should include whether the child is awake or not when the seizure took place, when the seizure happened (all of a sudden, after standing upright or after an argument), if the child acted as if he or she were aware something that was happening right beforehand, and if the child was suffering from any illness. Other things asked can include if the child bit his or her tongue, flailed his or her arms, lost consciousness, jerked about while the seizure was taking place, if he or she went to sleep after the seizure, acted confused or remembered the event at all. The physician will also need to know how long the seizures lasted and any family history of seizure disorders. (See resource 1)

Treatment

• Treatment options for epilepsy include medication to prevent future seizures, vagus nerve stimulation, in which a stimulator is placed under the skin of the chest with a wire leading to the vagus nerve on the left side of the neck, allowing impulses to stimulate the nerve periodically depending on each patient's condition. Vagus nerve stimulation reduces seizures in 30 to 50 percent of people. A ketogenic (high-fat, low-protein, no-carbohydrate) diet, which helps control seizures, and surgery to remove a small section of the brain causing seizures or to disconnect ventricles from diseased to healthy parts of the brain, are also available treatment options for those with epilepsy. (See reference 2)