• Question: Why do people get Epilepsy?

    Asked by luke9897 to Amy, Drew, Julia, Kimberley, Sara on 17 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Amy MacQueen

      Amy MacQueen answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Hi Luke!

      I have just spoken to my friend Doctor Ed and he says that seizures are caused by disruption in the normal electrical activity of brain cells. Often no specific cause is found.

      Other times seizures may be caused by injuries to the brain, meningitis, drugs, and long-term alcohol abuse. High temperatures sometimes cause seizures in babies, but these stop as they get older. In the elderly brain tumours and strokes account for larger numbers of seizures.

      So there are a lot of types of epilepsy which may be caused by injury or exposure to harmful substances – however some genes can raise the chances of having epilepsy…and so there is also a genetic component which leads to the disease. I think Kimberley will probably know quite a bit about this though as she works on the brain! 🙂

    • Photo: Julia Griffen

      Julia Griffen answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Hey Luke,

      I actually had epliepsy as a child, I dont have it any more. It seemed I just grew out of it, doctors reckoned it was down to changes in hormones. But as Amy’s exaplined really well, there are many causes and it depends on a case to case basis… hope that helps 🙂

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