Question
A child suddenly collapsed and convulsed during a meal and was diagnosed with epilepsy. We want to understand the causes of epilepsy.
Answer
The causes of epilepsy can be categorized into primary and secondary types:
- Primary Epilepsy: This refers to epilepsy for which no clear cause can be identified and may be related to genetics.
- Secondary Epilepsy: Also known as symptomatic or acquired epilepsy, it is triggered by brain diseases or other systemic factors, such as congenital brain developmental abnormalities, brain tumors, systemic diseases (such as carbon monoxide poisoning, hypoglycemia), drug or alcohol withdrawal, and brain injury.