Imagine having a seizure every time you hear a particular song, when reading a book, while brushing your teeth, having a hot bath or thinking deeply. For some this is reality.
With November being Epilepsy Awareness Month, Dr Kalyani Dilip Karkare, a distinguished neurologist speaks at length about reflex epilepsy and some of its unique triggers.
If you experience two or more seizures within 24 hours, or if after a single seizure you have a 60 percent higher risk of having another episode, then you are diagnosed with epilepsy.
Reflex epilepsy is a condition that illuminates the brain’s response networks to internal and external stimuli. It is characterised by seizures frequently triggered by specific stimuli.
There is a common misconception that extreme stress is the direct cause of reflex epilepsy. What’s crucial to understand is it requires a specific stimulus that repeatedly causes seizures.
The most common kinds in order are photosensitive epilepsy (strobing lights), hot water epilepsy (bathing in hot water), eating epilepsy (specific foods) and cognitive epilepsy (A complex thought).
In managing epilepsy, it’s important to identify modifiable factors, such as dietary habits in “eating epilepsy” or the use of protective glasses in photosensitive epilepsy.
Public awareness of first aid for seizures is important. There is a lot of stigma attached to epilepsy. People tend to hide it from their own family members. This should stop.