“Attention to Signs for Early Diagnosis in Epilepsy”

Emphasizing that epilepsy actually has symptoms other than epileptic seizures that go with contractions in the whole body, Dr. Berrin Aktekin  pointed out that short-term, temporary, bad smell-dizziness-behavior and affect changes-meaningless short-term dips can be overlooked and She said that  “Therefore, he drew attention to the importance of applying to a neurologist by creating awareness in short-term and transient symptoms”
Epilepsy, which manifests itself with epileptic seizures, is a very common problem in society. Yeditepe University Koşuyolu Hospital Neurology Specialist Prof. Dr. Berrin Aktekin said that it is seen with a frequency of 0.5-1 percent in our country, as in the world, She defined epileptic seizure as “a condition that causes signs and symptoms as a result of abnormal, sudden, and temporary electrical discharges of neurons in the brain”. He said that when an epileptic seizure occurs, the patient may experience temporary loss of consciousness or symptoms with different characteristics, but having a single seizure may not mean that he or she has epilepsy.

More Often in Childhood and Old Age!

Stating that epilepsy can occur at any age and time, its incidence increases until the first 16 years of age and after the age of 65, Prof. Dr. Aktekin said, “The most common neurological disease in children up to the age of 16 is epilepsy. There are also types of epilepsy that can end in adolescence, related to brain maturation in childhood. However, with the increase in the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases (dementia/parkinsonian and cerebrovascular diseases, etc.) in adults after the age of 65, it is more common than in childhood, with an increasing frequency with age.

Patients May Not Realize They Have Seizures!

Dr. Berrin Aktekin reminded that there are many different types of epileptic seizures and that consciousness/awareness is affected during seizures, patients do not realize that they are having seizures. Dr. Aktekin continued his words as follows: “Since these patients do not realize that they are having a seizure, they can both injure themselves and injure others. Although there is a risk of seizures in childhood or seizures with loss of consciousness or awareness, they were not mentioned in this study because they did not drive. However, it can be life-threatening for them to have a seizure in the form of diving while waiting at traffic lights or crossing the street.”

Interesting Study of Patients with Focal Epilepsy

Providing information about an interesting study carried out on patients with focal epilepsy, which constitutes approximately half of all epilepsy cases, and drawing attention to early diagnosis, Prof. Aktekin told the following: In a study published in the June 2023 issue of the American medical journal Neurology, it was shown that approximately 5 percent of patients with focal epilepsy had an accident while driving before they were diagnosed. Pointing out the importance of correct diagnosis in the study; In the study carried out on 447 focal epilepsy patients; It was determined that 23 of these patients, ie 5 percent, had one or more seizures before they were diagnosed, and 30 percent of these 23 patients were first diagnosed with a seizure while driving. Of the 19 motor vehicle crashes that resulted from these seizures while driving, 11 were significant enough to require hospitalization. Another result of the study is that working people are 4 times more likely to have a seizure while driving before diagnosis than non-working people. However, the risk of having a seizure while driving was found to be higher in those with non-motor seizures such as loss of consciousness/or awareness (dialeptic seizure) without symptoms such as convulsions (ie, momentary diving without muscle contraction) compared to those with motor seizures (such as contractions). This situation can pose a risk for both the patients themselves and the people in the traffic. However, it is “in most cases” possible for people under treatment to drive safely. For this, first of all, it needs to be diagnosed.”

Attention to Signs for Early Diagnosis!

Yeditepe University Hospitals Neurology Specialist Prof. Dr. Berrin Aktekin, underlining that epilepsy actually has symptoms other than epileptic seizures, which are known to occur with contractions in the whole body, as noted in the study, pointed out that short-term, temporary, bad smell-dizziness-behavior and mood changes-meaningless short-term dips can be overlooked. For this reason, she drew attention to the importance of applying to a neurologist by creating awareness in short-term and temporary symptoms.