

Also known as: fit, seizure, brain disorder, muscle spasms, epilepsy
Seizure terminology can be confusing. Though the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, a seizure and seizure disorders are different. A seizure refers to a single surge of electrical activity in your brain. A seizure disorder (epilepsy), on the other hand, is when a person has had multiple seizures.
The word epilepsy derives from the Greek word for "attack."[56] Seizures were long viewed as an otherworldly condition being referred to by Hippocrates in 400B.C. as "the sacred disease".
In the mid 1800s the first anti seizure medication, bromide, was introduced. Following standardization proposals devised by Henri Gastaut and published in 1970, terms such as "petit mal", "grand mal", "Jacksonian", "psychomotor", and "temporal-lobe seizure" have fallen into disuse.
Seizure types are organized by whether the source of the seizure is localized (focal seizures) or distributed (generalized seizures) within the brain. Generalized seizures are divided according to the effect on the body and include tonic-clonic (grand mal), absence (petit mal), myoclonic, clonic, tonic, and atonic seizures. Some seizures such as epileptic spasms are of an unknown type.
Focal seizures (previously called partial seizures) are divided into simple partial or complex partial seizure. Current practice no longer recommends this, and instead prefers to describe what occurs during a seizure
Seizures have a number of causes. Of those with seizure about 25% have epilepsy. A number of conditions are associated with seizures but are not epilepsy including: most febrile seizures and those that occur around an acute infection, stroke, or toxicity. These seizures are known as "acute symptomatic" or "provoked" seizures and are part of the seizure-related disorders. In many the cause is unknown.
A person’s prognosis depends entirely on the type of epilepsy they have and the seizures it causes.
More than 60 percent of people will respond positively to the first anti-epileptic drug prescribed to them. Others may require additional assistance finding a medicine that is most effective. Almost all patients will find relief from their epilepsy symptoms with a medication.
After being seizure-free for about two to five years, 50 percent of patients will be able to stop using their anti-epileptic medicines.
Worldwide, 50 million people have epilepsy. Almost 80 percent of these people live in developing regions of the world.
Epilepsy can be successfully treated, but more than 75 percent of patients living in developing areas do not receive the treatment they need for their seizures.