Epidemiology of sleep epilepsy… the rate has decreased by 10% to 30%.
In a survey of 2,825 epileptic patients in 1974, 44% of them had sleep epilepsy, 33% of them had seizures only during awakening, and 23% of them had seizures at both times. The survey also found that people were prone to sleep epileptic seizures one or two hours before they woke up.
According to a recent survey, however, the proportion of sleep epilepsy in the whole epileptic seizure seems to have decreased by 10 to 30 percent. This is believed to be because advances in medication have curbed epileptic seizures.
Different types of epileptic seizures depending on the state of sleep.
Sleep epilepsy depends on the type of seizure and is prone to sleep.
■ General tonic algebra and complex partial seizures.
General tonic seizures, which are rigid throughout the body and then twitch, usually occur during non-REM sleep or in the middle of awakening. “Complicated partial seizures” that cause cramps in only one part of the body are common during shallow nonREM sleep, but are often seen before, after, and after REM sleep.
■Synchronic epilepsy and epileptic epilepsy.
Epileptic diseases caused by cerebral disorders such as hypoxia, encephalitis, stroke, and brain trauma are called ‘symptotic epilepsy’, and epileptic diseases, which are not known to be caused by various tests, are called ‘epileptic epilepsy.’ Epileptic syndrome is common only when waking up, and ‘universal epileptic syndrome’ occurs regardless of time. Sleep epilepsy is a mixture of erudite and syndrome.
Symptoms of a sleep epileptic seizure.
Sleep epilepsy is not just a big movement of the hands and feet. In the international classification of sleep disorders, sudden awakening from sleep, facial spasms, tingling tongue, mouth and facial movement, biting the tongue, grasping motion, urinary incontinence, confusion and deep sleep after a seizure are also considered as symptoms of sleep epilepsy.
During sleep epileptic seizures, you can hit your head hard against the wall, kick your feet hard on the wall, or walk around the room. Therefore, it can be misdiagnosed as sleep apnea, REM sleep behavior disorder, night wonder, sleep apnea syndrome, and so on. For an accurate diagnosis, it is important to have a sleep polygraph examination at a medical institution specializing in sleep disorders to check for abnormal brain waves during epileptic seizures.
Prevention, treatment, and medicine of sleep epilepsy.
To prevent epileptic seizures, lifestyle improvement and medication are the basics. If you still can’t get better, you may consider surgery.
If the rhythm of life is disturbed, no matter how much medicine you take, you are more likely to have epileptic seizures. Let’s have a regular life, such as setting the wake-up time or bedtime as much as possible, and sleep well to be careful of sleep deprivation and fatigue accumulation. For your safety in the event of a sleep epileptic seizure, don’t put anything dangerous in your bedroom and watch out for falling off your bed.
Antiepileptic drugs control the electrical excitement of nerve cells in the brain to prevent epileptic seizures. With proper treatment, 70% to 80% of patients can control seizures and lead a normal social life. Unfortunately, however, 20 percent of people cannot control their seizures even if they take medicine.
Please follow your doctor’s instructions and take it regularly every day when you treat drugs. Even if there are fewer seizures, don’t stop taking the medicine on your own and be sure to consult your doctor. Generally, antiepileptic drugs are recommended to be taken for two to four years after the last seizure and for more than two years after an EEG is removed. Most antiepileptics have side effects such as drowsiness and dizziness. Especially, it is easy to get out strongly when you start taking medicine, so let’s not do dangerous things such as driving a car or working in high places.