How many times does benign epilepsy occur in a year?

Epilepsy is one of the major diseases that affect people's health, and it is very prevalent in modern life, often bringing great impact to patients and society. Epilepsy is divided into benign and malignant. Among them, benign epilepsy is the most optimistic situation and has a relatively limited impact on patients. Let's take a look at how many times benign epilepsy will occur in a year? I hope everyone can understand this aspect.

Mild epilepsy usually occurs twice a year, or even once every 2-3 years. To treat epilepsy, a cranial MRI is performed to rule out the possibility of secondary epilepsy. Generally, appropriate medications are selected according to the type of epilepsy to control symptoms. Medication should be taken continuously and regularly without interruption. Some people can be cured.

This disease only occurs in childhood and accounts for 15%-25% of epilepsy in school-age children. It is a relatively common type of epilepsy. The first onset of the disease in children is usually between 2 and 13 years old, with the most common being between 5 and 10 years old. Boys are slightly more likely to be affected than girls. The onset of this disease is closely related to sleep. It often occurs shortly after the child falls asleep or before or after waking up in the morning, and sometimes it can also occur during a nap. A few children may also have attacks when they are awake during the day.

The number of attacks varies for each child. Some may only have 1-2 attacks, or 1-2 attacks a year, but some may have attacks more frequently.

The EEG of this disease has special changes, which manifest as spike waves or spike-slow waves in the central or temporal areas of the brain when there is no attack. However, in 30% of the children, this abnormal EEG pattern only appears after falling asleep. Therefore, when this disease is suspected, if the child's EEG is normal when awake, an EEG should also be performed during sleep to confirm the diagnosis.

The onset of this disease is related to genetics. About 30% of children have a family history of epilepsy. Among the brothers and sisters of the children, 15% may also suffer from this disease, and 19% may have EEG changes, namely central temporal spikes, but no clinical seizures.

To treat this disease, if it is the first attack, you can continue to observe and not take any medication for the time being; if it has occurred multiple times, you need to take anti-epileptic drugs. Various anti-epileptic drugs have good therapeutic effects on this type of epilepsy, but a few cases are more difficult to treat.