Epilepsy is a disability in some cases, especially when the epilepsy impacts your ability to work, learn or engage in daily tasks and activities.
Although not everyone with epilepsy are considered to be disabled and some people with epilepsy can work and do work.
To be eligible for disability payments with epilepsy the epilepsy will have to be severe enough to prevent you from holding down a job and also be frequent enough.
The frequency, severity and control of the seizures are all factors that determine your eligibility for disability payments when you have epilepsy.
Epilepsy is hereditary from the mother and children are slightly at nigher risk for epilepsy when the mother has epilepsy when compared to the father.
Epilepsy is also hereditary from the father as well but epilepsy is most often inherited from the mother.
The risk of a child developing epilepsy is 2.9 percent to 8.7 percent if the mother has epilepsy when compared to 1.0 percent to 3.6 percent if the father has epilepsy.
The rarest form of epilepsy is Dravet syndrome which is widely recognized as a rare and severe form of epilepsy which affects around 1 in 20,000 to 1 in 40,000 people in the United States.
Other rare epilepsy syndromes are Ohtahara syndrome and Lenoox Gastaut syndrome.
Ohtahara syndrome is a rare form of epilepsy that leads to hard to control seizures and developmental delays which affects newborns.
Dravet syndrome is a rare form of epilepsy that causes frequent and prolonged seizures which often begin in infancy and often before 1 year of age.
Dravet syndrome is also associated with developmental disabilities and other conditions and some children with Dravet syndrome are also at risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.
Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is a severe form of childhood epilepsy that causes multiple seizure types as well as cognitive impairment and a specific brain wave pattern on EEG.
It often begins in early childhood, often before the age of 4 and can also persist into adulthood.
The most common childhood epilepsy is Benign Rolandic Epilepsy which is also called Benign Epilepsy of Childhood with Centrotemporal Spikes.
Benign Rolandic Epilepsy affects around 15 percent of all childhood epilepsy cases.
With Benign Rolandic Epilepsy seizures often start between the ages of 2 and 13 and the seizures often involve, numbness or tingling sensations in the tongue or face which can affect speech and even twitching.
The seizures from Benign Rolandic Epilepsy are often focal seizures, which means that they originate in one area of the brain and the seizures are commonly triggered during sleep, especially as the child is falling asleep or waking up.
The benign Rolandic Epilepsy is considered benign because it often resolves on it's own during adolescence, often without any need for medication.
Benign Rolandic Epilepsy is also referred to as Benign Childhood Epilepsy with Central Temporal Spikes.
The most severe type of epilepsy is Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS).
Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is a severe type of epilepsy syndrome that is characterized by multiple types of seizures which include tonic, atonic, atypical absence, myoclonic and generalized tonic clonic seizures.
These types of seizures in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome are often resistant to multiple medications and the condition can also cause significant developmental and intellectual challenges.
Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is considered the most severe type of epilepsy because it involves several different types of seizures and some of which are more likely to cause injuries.
And seizures in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome can even often lead to brain damage and cause learning difficulties, developmental setbacks and loss of previously learned abilities.
Lennox-Gastaut syndrome seizures are often difficult to control with medications and multiple medications may be required, but complete control of the seizures is rare.
People with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome can live into their 50s and 60s although some are more likely to die prematurely as a result of the underlying brain disorder, seizures and injuries, aspiration, accidents, pneumonia or even Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy.