San José, Costa Rica. May, 2015.

Although epilepsy may occur in any stage of life, the persons who are most likely to suffer from this are children and senior adults.

“Many times the disease may be acquired through heredity or through a lesion, the latter being that which is generated because the person suffered some cerebral lesion such as a strong trauma to the head that injures some part of the brain, strokes or else brain tumors that trigger electric discharges in the brain”, commented Dr. Luis Guillermo Rosales Bravo, Neurologist of the Clínica Bíblica Hospital.

Once the person is diagnosed with epilepsy, the episodes that may be experienced will depend on the lifestyle and the conditions to which the patient is exposed, for example, the main detonators of epileptic crises are: not taking the  anti-epileptic treatment, be submitted to a lot of stress, sleeping badly, breathing very rapidly and even menstruation itself.

But: Do we know how to respond in a case of epilepsy?

In case of being present in a case of generalized epilepsy, the experts recommend keeping the person away from dangerous things that could injure or hit him/her, turning him/her on his/her side and loosening the clothing in order to facilitate breathing. “It is counter-indicated to try to put some object in the month or tongue,” this could injure the patient. If the patient is a known epileptic and presents isolated convulsions, it is not even necessary to take him/her to the emergency service unless the patient has suffered an external injury as a consequence of the seizure.

Generally, the convulsive episodes take some 40 seconds. In that time, what one has to do is simply to protect the patient. After the seizure, it is recommended to place the person comfortably in an armchair or someplace where he/she can rest and receive air. If it is an isolated seizure, it does not require medical attention, but if the patient enters what is called an epileptic state (recurrent seizures on the same day) he/she requires immediate attention because this can be fatal.

According to Rosales, it is always important that the person informs his/her workplace or friends about his/her disease, so that in case he/she has a crisis in public, those around him/her can help him/her in the best way.

For further information or for requesting medical attention, please call the number 2522-1000, or write to the email citas@clinicabiblica.com or contact us via chat at the website: www.clinicabiblica.com.