How do people develop epilepsy?

Condition analysis:
In most cases -- about seven in 10 people -- the cause of epilepsy is unknown. In other cases, epilepsy can have a symptomatic cause, such as birth injuries, head injuries, and infectious diseases including meningitis and encephalitis. It can also be caused by genetic conditions and stroke.

Whatever the cause, epilepsy causes too many nerve cells to fire in the brain at the same time," says Donald Olson, MD, director of the Epilepsy Program at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University Medical Center. "Depending on which part of the brain the cells are firing in, the symptoms could vary from a strange feeling, to one side of the body jerking, to a whole-body convulsion."

Instructions:
Do people with epilepsy require a special diet? It is important that people with epilepsy follow a nutritious, well balanced diet. Good nutritional habits and a healthy lifestyle are important in obtaining optimal seizure control. However, no special diet is prescribed for epilepsy itself.

To avoid dietary deficiencies, ensure proper intake of nutrients through a diet containing adequate folic acid (commonly found in raw and slightly cooked fruits and vegetables), calcium and magnesium (dairy products are the richest source), Vitamin B12 (animal and diary sources), and vitamin K (leafy green vegetables and cereal grains). Vitamin D is found in fish oils/flesh, supplemented milk, and is made in the body in response to sunlight. Rules for a healthy diet are outlined in "Canada’s Food Guide".

If you have some other condition in addition to epilepsy, that requires a special diet (diabetes, for example), it is important that you follow the diet needed for that disorder.