Epilepsy is a condition that affects the central nervous system and deals with electrical signals of the brain misfiring. As a result of these electrical disruptions or misfirings, the nerve cells experience temporary problems with communication, which causes seizures.
While approximately 3 million Americans suffer from epilepsy, most of the newly diagnosed cases are in children. Anyone can get epilepsy at any age, and some kids outgrow their seizures by their teens. It’s important to understand that epilepsy is not a mental illness and isn’t the only source of childhood seizures. This condition isn’t contagious and has no direct relation to a child’s intelligence. Most importantly, epilepsy typically will not worsen over time.
Our Epilepsy Center of Excellence offers advanced care for epilepsy through a wide range of services that include the latest in testing, monitoring, and treatment. In fact, we are one of the few centers in the region that performs EEG tests, a critical tool for diagnosing epilepsy and other brain disorders, which uses electrodes attached to the scalp to detect electrical activity in the brain. Click here for more information on EEG testing.