People with epilepsy are diagnosed after having two or more seizures that are not caused by withdrawal from alcohol or low blood sugar levels. Epileptic seizures should also be spontaneous. Non-epileptic seizures are psychogenic in nature and those with epilepsy can also exhibit non-epileptic and epileptic seizures. Seizures can occur due to lack of sleep, hormonal imbalance, especially in women, alcohol consumption, and chronic exposure to stress.

There are many epilepsy syndromes which are triggered by different and unique precipitants. This is called reflex epilepsy. It is important that the precipitant is known so that proper diagnosis can be done. The patient should always give a complete medical history to his doctor.

Aside from close observation, the patient can also be diagnosed by using the following:

1. Electroencephalogram (EEG) Monitoring
This machine can record any abnormality in the brain’s electrical activities by placing electrodes in the patients scalp. Epilepsy patients have changes in their brain waves even when they are not having epileptic seizures. Although EEG is useful to detect abnormal brain waves, it is not foolproof because even people without epilepsy may have unusual brain waves shown in EEG. Ideally, EEG should be done within twenty four hours of the first seizure.
2. Brain scans
Popular brain scan techniques being employed are the computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). The CT and MRI shows the structure of the brain and it can even identify if the brain has tumors or other structural anomalies. The PET and a new kind of MRI called the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are used to detect any abnormality in the brain’s activity. The single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a new technique used to trace the seizure foci in the brain. The magnetoencephalogram (MEG) uses the same principle as the EEG but it can detect abnormal brain activity deep within the brain. Another technique called the magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can detect oxygen levels of the brain tissue.
3. Blood tests
Blood tests are used to screen for metabolic or genetic disorders that the patient may have which can be associated with epilepsy and epileptic seizures. This can also be used to look for other causes such as lead poisoning, diabetes, infections or anemia.
4. Behavioral, developmental and neurological tests
This is done to determine to what extent epilepsy has affected the person by measuring motor abilities, intellectual capacity and behavior.

Filed under: Epilepsy

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