Say What?

Speaking with medical professionals can be overwhelming due to the unknown terms they use. The field of Neurology and its in depth study of the brain and nervous system can be especially daunting when you’ve just received the news that you or a loved one has epilepsy. I’ve put together some terms I wish someone had told me when I was diagnosed. Intractable, meaning the condition is hard to treat or manage, and not responding to standard medicine and treatment. This term is seen with epileptic patients very frequently , so you definitely want to be familiar! Refractory; this term is often confused with intractable, but Refractory means when a condition doesn’t respond to treatment, or even becomes resistant to treatment. Idiopathic indicates a disease with no known cause (typically spontaneous). Aphasia; I’ll tell you the more complicated definition first  (because its from my old Medical Surgical Nursing book ,so it has more credibility)  “an abnormal neurological condition in which language function is disordered or absent because of an injury to certain areas of the cerebral cortex”. My Speech Language Pathologist explained it to me as being a language disorder that causes impairment in how you perceive language, typically caused from stroke, or other neurological issues(such as epilepsy). The term Benign, means it’s not harmful; remember, “If it’s Benign, you’re fine.” Key acronyms include AED (anti-epileptic drug) and ASM (anti-seizure medication). They may seem like the same thing but, not everyone that has seizures, has epilepsy, so they only need an ASM, whereas if you have epilepsy you need an AED, and ASM if you have seizures. An EEG (electroencephalogram) is something everyone that has epilepsy or seizures will most likely have at some point in their life. It records brain activity to help understand seizures. There are various forms of EEG’s, but the least known is an Ambulatory EEG. With this type, there are electrodes on the scalp, like all the EEG’s, but you’re able to go home, sleep and walk around with it, while still getting information. Epileptiform refers to abnormal brainwaves on an EEG resembling seizures. These waves can show risk for a seizure, so you want to watch out and be careful if this is found. SUDEP, or Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, is a term often avoided, as it can be scary for both the patient and the caregivers. It happens typically at night with no known cause. Resection is the surgical removal of an organ or tissue, while Lobectomy is the removal of a lobe of an organ and Craniotomy involves removing part of the skull to access the brain (ew!). Let me know if you have other terms you’d like to discuss! Feel free to email me at @[email protected]