Epilepsy: A Plain-English Guide

By Dovy Paukstys, Founder, Komori Care

This article is educational and is not medical advice. It does not diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any condition. Komori is not a medical device, is not FDA-cleared, does not detect seizures, and is not intended for people with epilepsy. Talk with a neurologist or epileptologist about personal medical decisions. Households living with epilepsy should use clinically validated seizure-detection devices as directed by their care team.

Epilepsy is a diagnosis. A seizure is an event. People mix those up constantly, then mix up the syndrome names, then mix up first aid with a product page.

This is the index. Thirty educational posts, grouped so a searcher (or another article on this site) has one place to point. I am not a clinician. None of these pages diagnose, treat, or monitor anything. Households living with epilepsy use a neurologist or epileptologist, and clinically validated seizure-detection devices as that team directs.

Komori is not in that stack. Not a medical device. Not FDA-cleared. Does not detect seizures. Not intended for people with epilepsy.

Basics

• What is epilepsy vs a seizure: A seizure is an event. Epilepsy is a clinical diagnosis with rules.
• Types of seizures: ILAE focal, generalized, unknown onset. Old names mapped.

Types

• Tonic-clonic seizures: The convulsive seizure most people picture. Also called grand mal in older language.
• Absence seizures: Brief staring spells. Old name: petit mal.
• Focal aware seizures: Starts in one network. Awareness stays. Old name: simple partial.
• Focal impaired-awareness seizures: Starts in one network. Awareness does not stay. Old name: complex partial.
• Focal to bilateral tonic-clonic: A focal seizure that spreads and becomes convulsive.
• Temporal lobe epilepsy: The most common focal epilepsy syndrome in clinic language.

First aid and risk

• Seizure first aid: Stay, safe, side. CDC rules. Call 911 when the list says to.
• Status epilepticus: A seizure that does not stop, or repeats without recovery. Emergency. Call 911.
• What SUDEP is: Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. What the term covers. What it does not.
• Seizure triggers: Sleep loss, missed medicine, alcohol, stress, lights. Education, not a protocol.
• PNES and other imitators: Events that look like seizures and are not epilepsy. Diagnosis is clinical.

Diagnosis and treatment

• How epilepsy is diagnosed: History, EEG, MRI. A clinician makes the call.
• Epilepsy treatment overview: Medicines, surgery, implanted devices, diet as categories. No brand pitch.
• Anti-seizure medicines: What ASMs are. Choice is individualized. No doses.
• Ketogenic diet for epilepsy: Medical ketogenic therapy exists. It is a clinical-team diet, not a blog diet.
• Drug-resistant epilepsy: ILAE idea of two appropriately chosen ASMs that fail.

Syndromes

• Childhood epilepsy: The pediatric map. Start here if the patient is a child.
• Dravet syndrome: Early-life, often SCN1A, often fever-triggered prolonged seizures.
• Lennox-Gastaut syndrome: Multiple seizure types, including drops. Usually lifelong.
• Infantile spasms / West syndrome: Spasms in infancy, often with hypsarrhythmia. Now also called IESS.
• Doose syndrome: Epilepsy with myoclonic-atonic seizures (EMAtS).
• Ohtahara syndrome: Early infantile developmental and epileptic encephalopathy.
• Landau-Kleffner syndrome: Acquired epileptic aphasia. Language is the headline.
• Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy: Jerks after waking, often from adolescence. Usually lifelong.
• Developmental and epileptic encephalopathy: The DEE umbrella, not a single disease.

Rarer genetic tail: Beyond Dravet and LGS. Live slug stays.

Sleep and life

• Sleep and epilepsy: Sleep loss as a trigger. Seizures that wreck sleep. Wellness trackers are not detectors.
• Nocturnal seizures: Events during sleep. Clinicians discuss nighttime risk. See the SUDEP page for that term.
• Pregnancy and epilepsy: Plan with a neurologist and an OB. Do not stop medicine on your own.

Older night-and-caregiver posts keep their live URLs and should point here: no-camera night monitoring, the night gap, when the parent is the monitor. Conference write-ups are news. Not in this list.

How to use this cluster

Start at the basics if you are new. Start at first aid if someone is on the floor. Start at childhood or a named syndrome if that is the word on the clinic note. Every educational post on this topic should link back here.

Nothing here is a reason to buy a consumer monitor.

FAQ

Is this medical advice?

No. It is a glossary with sources. Personal decisions go to a neurologist or epileptologist.

Does Komori detect seizures?

No. Komori is not a medical device, is not FDA-cleared, does not detect seizures, and is not intended for people with epilepsy.

Where do I go for first aid training?

CDC publishes first-aid steps. The Epilepsy Foundation runs free training. CDC points people there.

Why are some older epilepsy posts not in the list of 30?

A few live posts are caregiver or night essays, or conference news. They keep their URLs. Education lives here. News stays news.

Sources

• CDC, Epilepsy Basics: https://www.cdc.gov/epilepsy/about/index.html
• CDC, First Aid for Seizures: https://www.cdc.gov/epilepsy/first-aid-for-seizures/index.html
• NINDS, Epilepsy and Seizures: https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/epilepsy-and-seizures
• ILAE, Classification and definition of epilepsy syndromes: https://www.ilae.org/guidelines/definition-and-classification/classification-and-definition-of-epilepsy-syndromes