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Epilepsy or “seizure disorder” is a chronic disorder, which cause unpredictable seizures of all kinds, which might have all sorts of other consequences. Epilepsy usually has not simple or known cause.<ref name="epilepsyWhatIsEpilepsy">SIRVEN, J.I. What Is Epilepsy? Epilepsy Foundation [online]. 2014, Jan. Available online at: http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/epilepsy-101/what-epilepsy (Retrieved 4.11.2016)</ref> It might be caused some illness (for example brain tumors or Alzheimer’s disease<ref name="NIH_The_Epilepsies_and_Seizures">The Epilepsies and Seizures. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke [online]. 2015, Aug. Available online at: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/epilepsy/curing_the_epilepsies_brochure.pdf (Retrieved 4.11.2016)</ref>, brain damage, abnormal brain development, genetic mutation (de novo mutations) etc..<ref name="NIH_The_Epilepsies_and_Seizures"/> But those causes might be very diverse. Epilepsy always arises from brain and is bound to sudden abnormal brain electrical activity.<ref name="NIH_The_Epilepsies_and_Seizures"/> Clusters of neurons might fire signal faster than normal, which is as many as 500 times a second. That electric activity then cause seizure.<ref name="NIH_The_Epilepsies_and_Seizures"/> This medical condition is considered, when individual has at least two or more unprovoked seizures separated by 24 hours.<ref name="NIH_The_Epilepsies_and_Seizures"/> In the United States suffer from epilepsies up to 2.3 million adults and more than 450,000 children. <ref name="NIH_The_Epilepsies_and_Seizures"/>
There are many possible triggers of seizures in epilepsy.<ref name="NIH_The_Epilepsies_and_Seizures"/> The most common perceived triggers are: missing medication (40.9%), emotional stress (31.3%) and , sleep deprivation (19.7%), fatigue (15.3%), missing meals (9.1%), fever (6.4%), and smoking (6.4%). Data was obtained form 405 patinets.<ref name="Perceived trigger factors of seizures in persons with epilepsy">BALAMURUGAN, et al. Perceived trigger factors of seizures in persons with epilepsy. Seizure: Eur J Epilepsy, 2013. Available online at: http://www.seizure-journal.com/article/S1059-1311(13)00177-5/pdf (Retrieved 4.11.2016)</ref> There are more than 30 different types of seizures, but generally they are divided into two major groups – the focal seizures, which originate only in one part of the brain, and the generalized seizures, which come from both sides of the brain.<ref name="NIH_The_Epilepsies_and_Seizures"/> These seizures might look very different, they might or might not cause loss of consciousness, or a muscle´s massive contractions. It might also appear , for example in the intense feeling of déjà vu. Epilepsy has also many various types, for example the absence epilepsy, the frontal lobe epilepsy, the temporal lobe epilepsy (most common form in focal seizures) or the neocortical epilepsy.<ref name="NIH_The_Epilepsies_and_Seizures"/>
Epilepsy has also some risks associated with the life-threatening conditions, such as "status epilepticus" and "sudden unexpected death". However these cases are very rare. More common risks appear in connection with the injury during seizures.<ref name="NIH_The_Epilepsies_and_Seizures"/>
