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Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Essay

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Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Essay
Epilepsy affects 48 out of every 100,000 people in the U.S. making it the fourth most common brain disorder behind migraines, strokes and Alzheimer’s disease. Young children and older adults are more likely to be diagnosed with epilepsy than any other age group. Temporal lobe epilepsy is one of over 40 known types of epilepsy.

Definition
The brain is divided into two hemispheres, and each hemisphere has a frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe and a temporal lobe. The temporal lobe is located on the bottom middle part of the brain behind the temples, and it’s primarily responsible for auditory processing, speech and language comprehension. Other temporal lobes functions include memory, facial recognition, emotional responses, and
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If possible, a person should use their smartphone to take a video of their loved one having a seizure so that the family doctor can view what is happening. They should also make a list of all of the medication being taken and write down questions they would like to ask the family doctor. Once the family doctor has this information, they will make a referral to a neurologist who specializes in epileptic seizures. The neurologist will conduct a number of neurological tests on the patient that will check the patient’s muscle tone and strength, coordination and balance, reflexes, posture and sensory function. Memory, thinking, and judgment tests will be performed to see if any damage has been done in these areas. Blood tests can be used to detect triggers that cause the seizures. There are also three scans a neurologist can use to detect brain abnormalities. An electroencephalogram checks the brain’s electrical activity so that the neurologist can see wave patterns that are typical of a person with epilepsy. Magnetic resonance imaging checks for abnormalities in the brain’s structure. Finally, single-photon emission computerized tomography is a scan that is given to determine where the seizure

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