Understanding Epilepsy: Seizures, Causes, Care

Definition and core features of epilepsy

Epilepsy is a group of neurological disorders defined by a long-term tendency to experience recurrent, unprovoked seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activity in the brain that can cause a wide range of symptoms—from brief lapses in awareness or muscle jerks to prolonged convulsions. Epilepsy is typically diagnosed when a person has at least two unprovoked seizures occurring more than 24 hours apart, though in some cases it can be diagnosed after a single unprovoked seizure if the risk of recurrence is high. Isolated seizures that do not recur or are provoked by identifiable causes are not considered epilepsy. Core features include the variety of seizure types and their clinical patterns. Seizures are commonly classified as focal (starting in one brain region), generalized (rapidly involving both hemispheres), unknown onset, or unclassified. Focal seizures may preserve or impair awareness and can include sensory, psychic, autonomic, or motor symptoms; generalized seizures include tonic–clonic, absence, myoclonic, atonic, and other forms. Epilepsy also involves characteristic post-seizure recovery (the postictal state), which can include confusion and fatigue, and may include additional phenomena such as transient weakness. Triggers (e.g., sleep deprivation, stress, fever, illness, menstruation, alcohol, and some medications) can lower the seizure threshold, and a smaller subset of people have reflex epilepsy where specific stimuli reliably provoke seizures.

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Seizure types: focal, generalized, unknown, unclassified

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