DIAGNOSING EPILEPSY
Epilepsy diagnosis is not based on a single, ‘one-off’ seizure, but on the history of more than one epileptic seizure. A GP should refer patients who have seizures to the relevant specialists. A neurologist or other epilepsy specialist will confirm a diagnosis of epilepsy. These specialists are called ‘epileptologists’. They may be neurologists or neuropsychiatrists who have additional training and expertise in epilepsy. Accurate eye-witness accounts are fundamental in helping to make a correct diagnosis, as, often, the person having the seizure has no recollection of what has happened. This history is the foundation of epilepsy diagnosis. Other investigations may provide additional information about the person’s general health and well-being, but they do not confirm the diagnosis. Blood tests, for example, check out a person’s general health, and may help to exclude a metabolic cause for the seizures. An electroencephalogram (EEG) measures the electrical activity of the brain, but should not be routinely used to exclude a diagnosis of epilepsy. However, an EEG may be of relevance in helping to classify the types of epileptic seizures that the person is having (National Society for Epilepsy 2003).
Accurate diagnosis may rely on a number of factors; however, it is important, as carers, to be aware of useful steps that can be taken to support a diagnosis in adults with learning disabilities:
• ‘Keep written accounts/notes of what happened to the person before, during and after the seizure.
• Refer to the person’s GP, so a full medical assessment may be made as quickly as possible after the seizure.
• Ask the GP to refer the person on to an epilepsy specialist.
• Observe the person closely after his/her seizure.
• Keep written records, particularly of subsequent seizures.’ (Epilepsy Connections 2004).
