Epilepsy is a common health concern. The condition is even more common than we think. The situation is quite common yet poorly understood. While many things can increase your risk of suffering from epilepsy, the onset of epilepsy is still unavoidable in many cases.
What Does It Look Like to Suffer from Epilepsy?
Well, many common signs and symptoms tell us that you have epilepsy. People with epilepsy may suffer from strange sensations and experience sudden jerks, fits, and collapses anywhere.
I have seen one of my close family friends suffering from the trouble as her son had epilepsy. Every single time she used to get a call from the school, she used to rush, leaving everywhere midway. Until she took her son to the best neurosurgeon in Karachi, who treated the child for epilepsy. No matter what’s the case, epilepsy is a poorly understood condition. There are many common epilepsy myths that people don’t know about.
Common Epilepsy Myths
Want to know more about the common epilepsy myths? Here are some of them to make you aware of the disease.
1- Epilepsy can be transmitted from person to person
Many people believe epilepsy is a disease that can spread from human contact. However, epilepsy is not a contagious or infectious disease you can get from touching or staying near an affected person. This neurological condition involves many causative factors, so this is no more than a myth.
2- Having a seizure means that you are suffering from epilepsy
Next in the list of common epilepsy myths comes that having seizures means having epilepsy. However, there is no truth in this. Having a seizure doesn’t necessarily mean that you have epilepsy.
There could be many other causes behind a seizure, so one shouldn’t always assume a seizure to be epilepsy. However, if seizures are recurrent, then you should visit your physician, who can take other factors into account and figure out if it’s epilepsy or not.
3- During seizures, you can swallow your tongue
If you have also believed this, you are probably mistaken. However, people who suffer from seizures can swallow their tongue. However, a person can’t swallow his tongue during a seizure.
4- Having epilepsy means that you are not smart enough
Since epilepsy is a neurological condition, many people believe that epilepsy can take a toll on your ability to think smartly. However, this is not true. Suffering from epilepsy doesn’t mean you cannot think and behave like ordinary people. Epilepsy has nothing to do with your intelligence, and at times, other than seizures, you can feel and behave normally.
5- You can predict the beginning of the seizure
Another common epilepsy myth says that you can predict the onset of a seizure. However, that’s not true. Some people might know when a seizure is about to happen, and this is known as the ‘aura.’ However, in other cases, predicting the onset of a seizure is impossible.
6- Seizures are painful
Another common epilepsy myth says that seizures are generally painful. However, that’s not true. Seizures are episodes where a person gets unconscious. It is not possible for a person to feel pain while having a seizure. So, this is merely a myth.
7- Women who have epilepsy shouldn’t give birth to the children
When dealing with epilepsy, it is generally believed that women who have epilepsy shouldn’t give birth to children. However, that’s not true.
Epilepsy has nothing to do with a woman’s ability to give birth to a child or affect her fertility. However, extra pregnancy might be required for females already on some drug treatment for epilepsy because certain drugs can increase the chances of congenital disabilities among women.
8- Only children suffer from epilepsy
Just because epilepsy cases are more common among children, this made people believe that only children can have epilepsy. However, adults are no exception to this. Adults, just like children can also suffer from epilepsy, but the cases are not as common.
Bottom Line!
Epilepsy is a condition that is even more common than you think. However, the situation is not well-understood. If you have epilepsy, then the first to fully understand life with epilepsy is to understand it well. Alsos, visiting your physician can help you understand and manage your condition accordingly.