Causes of Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a disorder with many possible causes. Anything that disturbs the normal pattern of neuron activity — from illness to brain damage to brain tumors to abnormal brain development — can lead to seizures. Partial seizures begin with an abnormal electrical discharge limited to one region of the brain.
Epilepsy can develop at any age. Although epilepsy can develop in any person, there are certain people placed at higher risk than others. People who suffer from severe head injury, infection, strokes, tumors, children born with a brain defects and/or people who have a history of epilepsy in the family are placed at a higher risk than others.
Unfortunately, more than half of the time the cause of epilepsy cannot be determined. However, there are a number of factors associated with epilepsy that may include:
- Excess alcohol use
- Not enough sleep
- Head injury (previous brain trauma)
- Substance abuse
- Anxiety or stress
- Depression
- Metabolic disturbances (low/high blood sugar, kidney disease, liver disease, low oxygen)
- Vascular system problems
- Abnormal blood vessels in the brain
- Dementia (other than Alzheimer's disease)
- Illness or infection
- Degenerative disorders
- Multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy
- Brain tumors