Epilepsy is a disorder in which nerve cell activity in the brain is disturbed, causing the person to have seizures. It can cause strange sensations, emotions, and behaviors. Anything that can disturb the normal pattern of neuron activity can lead to a seizure. Such as, illness,brain damage, abnormal brain development, stroke,brain tumor, and drug and alcohol misuse. The cause of most cases are unknown. Having one seizure due to a elevating fever, called febrile seizures, or a simple head injury does not mean that person has epilepsy. Usually two or more will determine if that person has epilepsy, but not in all cases. A confirmation of epilepsy is done by a test that measures the electrical activity in the brain and brain scans called electroencephalogram or EEG. There are six main types of generalized seizures: tonic-clonic,tonic,clonic,myoclonic,absense, and atonic. They all will involve loss of consciousness and typically will happen without warning. Tonic-clonic seizures present with a contraction of the limbs lasting about 10-30 seconds called a tonic phase. Followed by a shaking of the limbs in unison. This is called the clonic phase. A person will often turn blue as breathing has stopped. Once the clonic phase has stopped it usually takes about 3-15 minutes for the person to return to normal but can last for hours. This period is called the postictal state or phase. Common symptoms of this phase may include feeling tired, headache, difficulty speaking,and abnormal behavior. Psychosis after a seizure is very common. The person will not remember what happened during this time. There can be loss of bowel or bladder control during the actual seizure. The person can bite their tongue during a seizure also. In tonic-clonic seizures, biting the tongue on both sides are very common. Myoclonic seizures involve spasms of the muscles in a couple of areas or all over the body. Absence seizures involve the loss of muscle activity for more than one second. This can typically happen on both sides of the body. About 6% of people with epilepsy have seizures that are triggered by specific events. These are called reflex seizures. Common triggers may be flashing lights and sudden noises. In some types of seizures, they will happen during sleep and in other types they happen almost only when sleeping. Rolling a person on their side during a seizure will prevent them from choking and fluid entering their lungs. Treatment for epilepsy are anticonvulsant medications, lifestyle changes, and sometimes surgery. Possibly the person could be on these medications for their entire life. The choice of anticonvulsants are based on what type of seizures do the person has, other medications they are on, other health problems, the persons age, and lifestyle. If epilepsy is due to a tumor, abnormal blood vessels, or bleeding in the brain, surgery to treat these disorders may make the seizures stop. It is very important for the person to take their seizure medications daily. Also, maintaining a particular diet known as the Ketogenic diet. It is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate, and adequate protein. It appears to decrease the number of seizures by half in about 30-40% in children. Epilepsy cannot be prevented. Proper diet, sleep, and staying away from illegal drugs and alcohol may decrease the triggering of seizures. You also can reduce the risk of head injuries by always wearing a helmet during bike riding or other vigorous activities. People with epilepsy are at an increased risk of death. Also, about twice the risk of being involved in a motor vehicle accident. Some people are even prevented from driving if certain qualifications are not met. Epilepsy is one of the most common serious neurological disorders affecting about 65 million people in the world. It affects 1% of the population by age 20 and 3% of the population by age 75. It is said to be the most common in males than females. Epilepsy cannot usually be cured, but with medication, an active lifestyle and diet changing it can be controllable.