There is an enormous difference between seizure and seizure disorder. Seizure disorders can be more severe and chronic. However, both conditions require treatment to prevent seizures and their triggers. Making some dietary changes also reduces the frequency of seizures. If you properly follow your treatment, you can easily prevent seizures and epilepsy and live a normal life. Log on to www.doralhw.org for a consultation.

Keep reading to learn the difference between epilepsy and seizures.

What is a seizure?

A seizure is a condition that causes abnormal electrical discharge in your brain. Usually, brain cells or neurons flow in an organized way along the surface of the brain. A seizure happens when there is an excess of electrical activity.

Its symptoms include:

• Muscle spasms
• Limb twitches
• Loss of consciousness
• Change in feelings and behavior.

A seizure usually happens once, however, if you experience more than one seizure, then you may have a seizure disorder. If you experience one seizure then it increases your chances 40 to 50% more to get another one within two years, with proper treatment you can reduce the risk of another seizure by around 50%.

What is a seizure disorder?

A seizure disorder is a condition in which you can experience more than one seizure. Usually, the seizure is unprovoked seizures, which are caused by natural factors such as genetic factors or metallic imbalances in your body.

Provoked seizures are caused by any specific event like a brain injury or stroke. To be diagnosed with a seizure disorder, you need to have at least two unprovoked seizures.

Differences between epilepsy and seizures

Cause

A seizure is caused when the brain cells or neurons behave abnormally and produce electrical disturbance in the brain due to misfire and sending wrong signals. It is common in early childhood or after the age of 60.

Some conditions can also lead to seizures, including:

• Heart problems, such as stroke or heart attack
• Lupus
• Head or brain injury during an accident or injury before birth.
• Meningitis
• Alzheimer’s disease or dementia
• Genetics, according to some new research.

Similarly, epilepsy is caused in the same way as seizures by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. However, epilepsy happens when those electrical signals give rise to an electrical storm that produces seizures. These storms may occur in a specific part of the brain or are generalized, depending on the type of epilepsy.

Management

Right now, there is no treatment available to cure seizures or seizure disorders, but with treatment, you can prevent seizures and their triggers.

Treatment is usually given through medicines, surgery, and diet changes. Medications such as antiepileptics are prescribed by the doctor to reduce electrical activity in your brain. Making some dietary changes also helps to prevent seizures. For example, if your doctor recommends you a ketogenic diet, which is low in carbohydrates and proteins but high in fats. Following this diet can change your body’s chemistry which may result in decreasing the frequency of seizures.

And if you know the triggers that cause your seizures or seizure disorders such as alcohol or drug use, low blood sugar, encephalitis, etc., then avoiding or treating those triggers can help you prevent seizures.

If your seizures do not respond to treatment then, the last resort for your medical team is to consider surgery or nerve stimulation treatment. In this surgery, they remove the part of the brain where your seizures begin.

Doral Health and Wellness has several urgent care clinics around New York that can cater to your family’s medical needs. We also have the best medical providers, physicians and staff that are highly trained in their respective specialties. To know more about the locations of our urgent care clinics, you can visit us at Doral Health and Wellness. If you are looking for urgent care near you, you can visit Doral Health and Wellness Urgent Care. We provide urgent care for common illnesses and injuries. Additionally, we also provide comprehensive care for any related injuries and health problems. We also offer other services, such as vaccinations, immunizations, and blood testing. For more info, visit us or call 1-347-384-5690.