In the clinic, parents often ask me: "Why are there so many children with epilepsy?" What causes children to develop epilepsy? In fact, this question is not easy to answer, because infants and young children to childhood, the child's brain is in the process of rapid growth and development, neurotransmitter development is not yet mature, and there are more risk factors in the growth process, at this time if you encounter some external stimuli, it may lead to epilepsy.
Epilepsy is a common neurological disease, with many causes, most of which are hidden dangers buried by children during the perinatal period, accounting for about 80%.
The mother's intrauterine hypoxia, birth trauma, etc. during pregnancy or childbirth, fetal congenital development or congenital metabolic abnormalities, craniocerebral trauma or brain inflammation, etc., may cause the child's epilepsy.
Expectant mothers must seriously carry out prenatal care to reduce pregnancy complications; Giving birth in a regular hospital and reducing obstructed labour; Avoid infectious diseases in infants and young children; Reduce traumatic head injuries in children; Active prevention of congenital genetic diseases.
In addition, infections and trauma, such as meningitis, encephalitis, as well as craniocerebral injuries such as car accidents, brain tumors, etc., can cause epilepsy.
75%~80% of epilepsy patients are under 18 years old. If left untreated, epilepsy can worsen and recurrent seizures become more frequent. Recurrent seizures will not only affect children's cognitive function, resulting in learning difficulties and significant decline in grades, but some patients can turn into large seizures during adolescence, which will bring severe depression.
There are many causes of pediatric epilepsy, mainly including the following:
The onset of epilepsy is associated with side effects of certain medications. Many drugs that are not used properly can stimulate the brain and cause seizures, also known as drug-related epilepsy. For epilepsy caused by this drug, the drug is not the cause but only the cause.
Cerebral ischemia and hypoxia can easily lead to the onset of epilepsy. For example, if a child has a respiratory disease, if not treated in time, it will lead to cerebral ischemia and hypoxia, which will cause damage to brain cells, and eventually lead to the occurrence of pediatric epilepsy.
Epilepsy can be caused by brain mass and cerebrovascular disease, and brain tumors are a common cause of childhood epilepsy. At the same time, head trauma can also cause epilepsy, such as intracranial hemorrhage, skull fracture, brain contusion, etc.
The above common reasons may cause children to have epilepsy, so parents must take their children to a specialist hospital for examination when there is an abnormality, only to clarify the specific cause of epilepsy, and then the doctor can give a targeted treatment plan.
Important: Pediatric epilepsy is a chronic disease of the central nervous system, which must be cured clinically after long-term regular anti-epileptic drugs, and once used anti-epileptic drugs, it is necessary to take at least 2-4 years. Generally, no seizures at all for more than 2 years can be considered to reduce or gradually stop the drug, so parents of children must cooperate with doctors, only the joint efforts of both parties can overcome the disease.