What is Epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterised by recurrent, unprovoked seizures – sudden bursts of electrical activity in the brain causing changes in behaviour, movements, feelings, or consciousness. It affects approximately 12 million people in India. At Dashvanth Healthcare Delhi, Dr Simranjeet Singh provides comprehensive epilepsy evaluation and management.
Types of Seizures
Focal (Partial) Seizures
- Focal Aware: Conscious during seizure – strange sensations, jerking of one limb
- Focal Impaired Awareness: Altered consciousness – automatisms (lip smacking, hand rubbing)
Generalised Seizures
- Tonic-Clonic (Grand Mal): Loss of consciousness, body stiffening and rhythmic jerking
- Absence (Petit Mal): Brief staring spells (seconds), common in children
- Myoclonic: Brief muscle jerks
- Atonic: Sudden loss of muscle tone (“drop attacks”)
Common Causes
- Birth injury or congenital abnormalities
- Head trauma
- Brain infections (meningitis, encephalitis)
- Brain tumour
- Stroke
- Genetic factors
- Unknown (idiopathic) – 50% of cases
Diagnosis
Detailed clinical history and eyewitness account, EEG (electroencephalogram) – records brain electrical activity, MRI brain to identify structural causes, Blood tests to rule out metabolic causes.
Treatment
Anti-Epileptic Drugs (AEDs)
70% of patients achieve seizure control with medications. Common AEDs: Sodium valproate, Carbamazepine, Levetiracetam, Lamotrigine, Phenytoin. Drug selection depends on seizure type, patient age, and side effect profile.
Surgical Treatment
For drug-resistant epilepsy (failure of 2+ AEDs). Resection of seizure focus (temporal lobectomy most common), corpus callosotomy, vagus nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation.
Expert epilepsy management at Dashvanth Healthcare Delhi: 011-41670042
