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MR & Seizure Disorder

There are a lot of misconceptions about MR, or mental retardation, and seizure disorders. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in a recent tracking study, as many as one in 63 eight-year-olds in the Atlanta, Georgia area suffer from MR. The Epilepsy Foundation states that 300,000 people each year have their first seizure, and 200,000 are diagnosed with epilepsy or seizure disorder.

  1. What is MR?

    • An individual with a score below 70 on an IQ test is said to have mental retardation. More commonly referred to as an "intellectual disability," MR is characterized by below average intelligence coupled with difficulty performing everyday tasks such as communication, self-care, learning and functioning in social situations, according to the CDC.

    Causes of MR

    • Mental retardation can begin before or after birth and is usually the result of injury, disease or abnormality of the brain. Some common causes occurring in the womb are Down Syndrome, Fragile-X, Prader Willi and fetal alcohol syndrome. During or shortly after birth, a baby may suffer brain damage due to asphyxia or other oxygen deprivation scenarios. Later in childhood, an intellectual disability may result from a traumatic brain injury.

    What is a Seizure?

    • That National Institutes of Health defines a seizure as "a sudden attack (as of disease); especially: the physical manifestations (as convulsions, sensory disturbances, or loss of consciousness) resulting from abnormal electrical discharges in the brain (as in epilepsy)." An individual can have an isolated seizure episode that does not mean he has epilepsy. Recurring seizures need to be evaluated by a doctor to find the cause and course of treatment.

    Types of Seizures

    • Doctors divide seizures into two categories. Partial seizures (simple or complex) are seizures in which abnormal activity only occurs in one part of the brain. Conversely, generalized seizures (including petit mal, grand mal, myoclonic and atonic) seem to occur over all areas of the brain.

    Causes of Seizures

    • Some types of seizures are common in two or more generations in families, leading researchers to believe there is sometimes a genetic component to seizure disorders. Another cause is brain injury, which can occur prenatally, after birth or later in life. Dementia can cause seizures. Other diseases or infections such as AIDS and meningitis can also lead to epilepsy.

    MR-Seizure Connection

    • According to the Epilepsy Foundation, 25.8 percent of people with MR develop epilepsy. There is also a correlation with seizures and other developmental disorders such as autism. A correlation is not the same thing as a cause, so MR cannot be said to cause seizures or vice versa. However, it is possible that the injury or condition that caused one may well have caused the other.

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