Epilepsy: a journey

Epilepsy is a tendency to have recurrent fits or seizures, and for most people is an uncomfortable and socially unacceptable thing to witness. It is estimated that 420,000 people in the UK will develop the condition in one form or another, with the risk of death three times higher than in the general population. There are over forty different types of seizure; each type presents itself differently from one person to another. However, the cause of the epilepsy is always the same; it is due to abnormal electrical activity within the brain (Fenwick and Fenwick 1996). The aim of this Learning Unit is to improve the understanding of epilepsy among nurses.