FAQs

When a person gets recurring fits / seizures or convulsions he/she is said to be suffering from EPILEPSY

The brain is the centre of control of the body. The brain controls and regulates our actions, thoughts, emotions and sensation. This is done through creating and propagating messages through electrical signals / impulses which travel in a fraction of a second from the brain to the rest of the body in an organized pattern and flow of current. If for some reason; this flow of current gets disorganized or disrupted there is a kind of “ Short circuiting” and this result in a seizure.

Seizures, fits convulsions are synonymous and mean the same thing. Seizures are what you actually see. If person keeps getting recurrent seizures he/she is said to be suffering from EPILEPSY.

• Epilespsy is NOT a mental illness and doesn’t always lead to lower intelligence.
• Epilepsy is NOT caused by a curse or by evil spirits.
• More than 85% of Epilepsies can be cured or controlled with treatment.
• People suffering from Epilepsy can marry, lead happy marital lives and have normal children.
• Epilepsy is not always hereditary. Those who have Epilepsy have only a 10% higher chance than normal population of their children getting Epilepsy.

In more than 65-70% of cases the cause is not known.
In the remaining 30-35% of cases one of the following causes can be identified.

• Birth asphyxia or trauma when the baby doesn’t cry at birth.
• Very high fever- Febrile Convulsions
• Brain infections.
• Brain attack or STROKE

There are various ways a fit can manifest right from simple staring episodes to jerking.

• Jerking of Limbs, (Clonic jerks)
• Uprolling of eyes
• Cleaching of teeth
• Frothing or drooling of saliva
• Loss of consciousness

In the broad sense Epilepsy Seizures are classified into 2 types.
Generalised Seizures AND
Partial Seizures
In generalized seizures, the electrical disrupted impulse spreads to or involves the whole brain.
In Partial seizures – only a part of the brain is involved.
In Partial seizures, if consciousness is lost or altered it is called complex partial seizure.
If consciousness is preserved it is called simple partial seizure.

Epilepsy is essentially a clinical diagnosis and a detailed history of a witness usually leads to the diagnosis. This may be confirmed by doing an EEG (Electrocephalogram) or CT or MRI brain scan.

Do’s

• Remain calm, do not panic.
• Loosen clothes and maintain good ventilation
• Remove harmful, sharp objects from the vicinity which may injure the patient.
• Keep the patient on his side, and let the saliva drool outside.
• Keep a pillow to support the head.

Don’t

• Do not give an onion or chappal to smell.
• Do not give anything to eat or drink during the fit.
• Do not crowd round the patient.
• Do not try to force the mouth to open by using your finger or a spoon.

Call an ambulance if the seizure lasts more than 10 mins.

In children more than 70% of them outgrow their epilepsy and are regarded as cured. In others they can be well controlled with Medication. Please consult your doctor about medication. Please do not stop or modify medication without consulting your doctor.

When one side of the body, either suddenly or in the course of a few hours becomes weak; the person is said to have suffered a STROKE or paralytic attack or “BRAIN ATTACK”

• Ischaemic Stroke – The most common type of stroke (88% of all strokes). Here the blood supply to a portion of the brain is reduced. The blood vessel may get blocked due to a blood clot (thrombus). Usually the blood vessel is already narrowed due to fatty deposits and finally gets blocked.
• Haemorrhagic Stroke – A sudden bleed in the brain or when the blood vessel bursts and blood accumulates in the brain. It is rarer than ischaemic stroke and occurs only in 12% of cases. The bleeding can be caused by a sudden rise of B.P. causing the blood vessel to rupture or due to bursting of a weak wall of the vessel-causing it to balloon out first (aneurysm) A tumor can also lead to paralysis or STROKE when the tumor grows in size.

Sudden weakness or numbness of one side of the body or part of the body like face, arm or leg

• Transient blindness or blurring of vision or tubular vision.
• Confusion, slurred speech, loss of balance or difficulty in swallowing.
• Sever headache, occasionally focal or one sided fits.
• Altered state of consciousness or loss of consciousness.

• Patients with uncontrolled diabetes
• Patients with poorly controlled hypertension (high B.P.)
• Patients who are obese or who have high % of cholesterol.
• Smoking, lack of exercise, stress etc.
• Male gender
• Those who have a family history of stroke

What do I do if some one gets a STROKE

Act FAST
F – Is there any asymetry of FACE
A – Is any one ARM weak ir paralysed
S – Is the SPEECH normal or Slurred
T – TIME is Brain

Shift the patient IMMEDIATELY to the hospital for the proper diagnosis and timely management of stroke, preferably to a tertiary care hospital.
Remember early diagnosis and management can salvage maximum amount of brain tissue “Time is Brain”. Treatment started within 3 hrs. has maximum effectiveness.

Yes you can,

• Eat healthy.
• Exercise daily
• Avoid smoking and substance abuse
• Control weight, diabetes and blood pressure.

It is a chronic, progressive, debilitating brain disorder, causing

• Muscle rigidity
• Slowing down and loss of spontaneous movement
• Change in posture , speech and handwriting
• Pinrolling movements of the hands
• Loss of balance and frequent falls.
• Shuffling gait and stooped posture.

The exact cause of Parkinson’s disease is not known. It occurs when there is degeneration or loss of some brain cells (neurons) in certain areas of the brain called substantia niagra which controls movement of the body. This degeneration leads to a shortage of neuro transmitors – Dopamine.

Till date there is no cure or means to prevent Parkinson’s disease, altho recent research is showing promising results.

Most often it is seen after the age of 60. It is less common between 40-60 years. It is also seen very rarely below the age of 25.

It is not hereditary in the true sense of the word but if one’s parent has Parkinson’s Disease there is a slightly higher risk of getting Parkinson’s Disease in the off spring.