Is epilepsy hereditary?

In recent years, the prevalence of epilepsy has continued to increase, which has caused many patients' families to be very worried. Epilepsy is a common brain disease nowadays. Most patients will experience symptoms such as foaming at the mouth and convulsions all over the body. Some patients may also become more easily agitated, or become timid, etc. Moreover, many children suffer from epilepsy nowadays, so parents should pay more attention to whether there is anything wrong with their children.

Research in recent years has shown that patients with epilepsy must pay more attention in their lives. And you also need to be aware of the taboos in your diet. For example, some fried foods, including overly greasy foods, should not be eaten. It is better to eat less spicy foods. Epilepsy is very scary when it occurs. The patient may fall to the ground and convulse at any time. So many people want to know whether epilepsy is hereditary. Let me tell you about it today.

Experts analyze that epilepsy is hereditary, but there are many types of epilepsy. Whether all types of epilepsy are hereditary or only some types of epilepsy are hereditary is a question that confuses epilepsy patients. Epilepsy can be divided into two categories, primary epilepsy and secondary epilepsy. Primary epilepsy is hereditary, so is secondary epilepsy hereditary?

Primary epilepsy refers to epilepsy for which no cause can be found clinically and which has a certain degree of heredity. The general heritability is 3% to 5%. Among the relatives of the primary patient, the closer the blood relationship, the higher the incidence rate, and vice versa. The age of onset of primary epilepsy is uncertain, and it usually begins in infancy and adolescence, with typical grand mal seizures or typical minor seizures as clinical manifestations.

Whether secondary epilepsy is inherited or not is related to the cause of epilepsy. There are two main causes of secondary epilepsy:

One is brain diseases. Various brain diseases, such as cerebrovascular disease, craniocerebral injury, encephalitis, meningitis, hydrocephalus, brain abscess, inflammatory granuloma, intracranial tumor, brain parasites, craniocerebral trauma, demyelinating disease, abnormal brain development, sequelae of craniocerebral surgery, local brain scars, brain degenerative diseases, etc. can all cause epilepsy.

The second is extracerebral diseases: such as hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, asphyxia, shock, eclampsia, uremia, diabetes, cardiogenic convulsions, and metal and drug poisoning. Many central nervous system or systemic diseases can cause epilepsy.

Common causes of secondary epilepsy are birth trauma, intracranial infection, abnormal cerebral circulation, etc., such as sequelae of encephalitis, high fever convulsions in children, etc., which can all cause epilepsy.

The probability of inheritance of secondary epilepsy is also very high, and the incidence rate among immediate family members is much higher than that of the general population. From a clinical analysis, patients who have suffered brain trauma, encephalitis, meningitis, or a history of birth injury and asphyxia will not necessarily develop the disease. Therefore, the probability of inheriting secondary epilepsy depends not only on the strength of environmental factors, but more importantly on congenital genetic factors.

Genetics determines a person's "seizure threshold" for seizures; the lower the threshold, the more likely the disease is to occur. If the intensity of environmental factors exceeds the seizure threshold, the disease will occur.

After this introduction, I believe you have already understood that epilepsy has a certain chance of being inherited. Because the causes of secondary epilepsy are different, the possibility of inheritance is also different. Therefore, patients with secondary epilepsy should pay more attention when choosing a spouse. In addition, patients with epilepsy must seek medical treatment as soon as possible to avoid accidents.