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HEALTH |
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Epileptic disorders and ways to check
Shivani Bhakoo
Ludhiana, November 16
About 1 per cent of the total Indian population, i.e. an estimated 10 million Indians, suffer from epilepsy and about 50 million Indians would have experienced a seizure at some point of time in their life. Epilepsy occurs when there are recurrent seizures due to abnormal activity in brain cells. Not all fits or seizures are convulsive. Day dreaming, unresponsiveness, confused or inappropriate behaviour and temporary speech impairment may all be signs of seizures. Seizures can cause uncontrollable shaking or convulsions or may temporarily block awareness or cause confusion. A single seizure does not mean epilepsy, although the symptoms are the same. Epilepsy is the name given to seizures that can occur more than once because of an underlying abnormality in the brain. Epilepsy and childhood: It is important to remember that most children with epilepsy do well in school and do not have learning problems. Dr Gagandeep Singh, Reader and Head, Department of Neurology, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, said that epilepsy can occur at any age, it is typically seen as a condition affecting the young, often starting in childhood and sometimes lasting throughout life. The occurrence of seizures in children is a source of considerable worry and sometimes embarrassment to parents. Convulsions (being one of the common type of seizures) begin with a loud prolonged cry, a fall if the child is upright, stiffening of the whole or part of the body, to and fro movements and loss of consciousness. During this period, there is a noisy breathing, frothing and bleeding from the mouth because of tongue bite and sometimes, incontinence of urine and stools. A majority of children who have convulsions recover from them without any consequences. Children with epilepsy are of mostly normal intelligence. They can go to school and should go to school. It is important that the class teacher is informed and should be counselled about the necessary measures to be taken in the event of seizure. Epilepsy and Women: “Epilepsy holds implications for the well-being of women in the social, psychological, medical and reproductive spheres. The fear that disclosure may adversely affect marital prospects of women with epilepsy of marriageable age is very important concern among parents. Quite often, this fear or felt stigma leads the parents to establish a marital alliance without disclosing the fact that their son or daughter has epilepsy. This happens more with daughters than with sons in the male-dominated society like ours”, said Dr Gagandeep Singh. The public should realise that women with epilepsy can marry, have normal sexual function, bear children and go through normal reproductive cycle as any other women.
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