(See our offices in NY and NJ)
Martin L. Kutscher, MD
© 2004, 2006
Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology,
New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York.
Marissa
A. Broadley
Graduate Student,
School of Public Health
New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York.
Chapter : Scary, but Usually OK! Read This First
Generalized Epilepsies
Focal Epilepsies
Chapter: Diagnosis and Treatment
Chapter: First Aid & Accident Precautions
Chapter: Emotional & Social Issues
In this Childhood Seizure e-Book, you'll find accurate information on pediatric seizures and epilepsy. This includes febrile seizures, petit mal epilepsy, grand mal (or tonic clonic) epilepsy, Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy, and Benign Rolandic Seizures. We'll discuss causes, prognosis (usually good!), and treatment (if needed). Anticonvulsants include Trileptal (TM), Dilantin (TM), Tegretol (TM), Depakote (TM), and phenobarbital.
Here's an excerpt from the opening chapter:
If You're Reading This....
Let's face it: watching a seizure is scary. If you made it to the Childhood Seizure e-Book, you have probably recently been through an experience where you thought your child was dying. That experience is finished now, but it is likely going to take months for you--the parent--to get over it. The good news is that for children with seizures, the vast majority of the time everything works out fine.
Knowledge is an antidote to fear.
Knowledge is an antidote to fear. This e-book will give you the knowledge you need to approach your child's seizures from a position of strength. In this Childhood Seizure e-Book, you'll find accurate information on pediatric seizures and epilepsy. This includes febrile seizures, petit mal epilepsy, grand mal (or tonic clonic) epilepsy, Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (JME), and Benign Rolandic Epilepsy. We'll discuss causes, prognosis (usually good!), treatment (if needed), and social issues. Anticonvulsants to be discussed include Trileptal (TM), Dilantin (TM), Tegretol (TM), Depakote (TM), and phenobarbital. We'll start by explaining what happens during a seizure.
What is a seizure?
The brain consists of billions of neurons, communicating with each other via electrical impulses. These neurons are all touching each other, and the only reason there is any order is that many of the neurons exert a brake-like effect on other neurons. On occasion, the brain cells essentially get themselves into a reverberating "short circuit." The brain cells fire--causing the muscles that they control to contract, which leads to the movements we witness during a typical seizure. Fortunately, the brakes usually regain control, causing the stiffening to revert to slower twitches and then stop. Each time such an event occurs, the person is said to have experienced a seizure.
What is "epilepsy?"
"Epilepsy" is an (unfortunately) still emotion-laden word. It simply refers to people who have had more than one seizure. Epilepsy has nothing to do with intelligence. It just means a seizure tendency. This can be due to many causes, including just a genetic predisposition to an imbalance of the chemical channels that are supposed to prevent seizures; or to a brain disorder such as trauma. Seizures occur over a lifetime of about 11% of all people, although only 0.5% to 3% of the population will have epilepsy....
Return to the table of contents above.
 | The Epilepsy Foundation of America.
This site has it all, including an excellent
Answer Place.
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| The Epilepsy Foundation of Southern New York provides important local resources. | ||||||||
| Epilepsy Matters has terrific information from the Canadian Epilepsy Alliance. |
| Cyberonics maintains a commercial site about treatment with the Vagal Nerve Stimulator. |
| www.visitingOurs.com is a wonderful, unique, and easy to use website for keeping families up to date about a loved one's illness. |
| Seizures and Epilepsy in Childhood: A Guide for Parents. John Freeman,MD; Eileen Vining, MD; and Diana Pillas. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. This book reassuringly tells you everything you need to know. |
Disclaimer: This information does not constitute medical advice; nor is it a substitute for discussion between patients and their doctors. The views of cited references do not necessarily represent the views of our staff. There are no commercial sponsors. This information was last modified 07/11/07.
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Ronald I. Jacobson, MD Robert R. Wolff, MD Pediatric Neurology Associates, PC
New York (866) 289-4595
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Bruce Roseman, MD, PC
Providing the full range
New York (914) 997-2032 |
Information last modified 07/11/2007.
Also see our ADHD information at www.PediatricNeurology.com/adhd.htm
