Epilepsy in Kashmir, J&K Childhood Seizures & Epilepsy, Types, Causes, Diagnosis, Intervention, Prevalence and Action

An epileptic seizure is a transient occurrence of signs and or symptoms due to abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Epilepsy is a disorder of the brain characterized by an enduring predisposition to generate epileptic seizures and by the neurobiological, cognitive, psychological, and social consequences of this condition. The definition of epilepsy requires the occurrence of at least one epileptic seizure (ILAE & IBE 2005). Epilepsy is a physical condition that occurs when there is a sudden, brief change in how the brain works. When brain cells are not working properly, a person's consciousness, movement, or actions may be altered for a short time. These physical changes are called epileptic seizures. Epilepsy is therefore sometimes called a seizure disorder. Epilepsy affects people in all nations and of all races (Epilepsy Foundation of America). The peak stages for the occurrence of epileptic disorders are Childhood and late adulthood as seen in developed countries but it has not been documented properly. The main causes are head injuries, cerebrovascular disease, CNS infections, and birth trauma. Availability of epilepsy-care depends largely on economic factors. Imaging and neurophysiological facilities are available in most countries, but often only in urban centres. Costly drugs, a large treatment gap, limited epilepsy surgery, and negative public attitude to epilepsy are other notable features of management in developing countries. An understanding of the psychosocial, cultural, economic, organizational and political factors influencing epilepsy causation, management, and outcome should be of high priority for future investigations. The lifetime prevalence of epilepsy varied among countries from 1.5 to 14.0 per 1000. This wide variation could partly result from the use of different methods and different types of questionnaire. Screening questionnaires were mainly derived from WHO questionnaires. The prevalence of epileptic disorders in India is 5.9 in males and 5.5 in females in the reference year of 1999. The Incidence of epileptic disorders in India is 60 out of 100,000 in the reference year of 199.