The demographic profile
As it has been indicated by Kumar et al (2014) in the scope of their study, the lion share of the statistical data on demographic profile of epilepsy from both developed and developing countries may be referred as a retrospective one. It means that there is an insignificant number of the studies, which pertain to the selected age group – children in the current realities of the 21st century (Garzon et al 237-245).
As it was indicated by Garzon et al (2003), the core limiting factor in this case is the access to the professional health care services in the developing countries. The core reason for such trend is the lack of developed infrastructure, poor availability of the proficient healthcare services as well as the delays in enhancement of the parent’s awareness in the core symptoms of this disease. Additional emphasis of the scholars in this case is put on the long latency between the point of status onset and initiation of the proper treatment.
It was indicated by Murthy et al (2007) that this disease is more common among the male children in comparison to their female counterparts. The following ratio was offered by the scholars for supporting this statement with the evidence: 1.3:3 correspondingly. At the same time, after conducting an analysis of the corresponding literature sources, it is possible to make a claim that there is still the lack of the evidence, supporting the causal relationship for the male preponderance in epilepsy among children.
In the scope of this section, additional emphasis should be put on the fact that Gulati et al have indicated that more than 56% of the patients, diagnosed with epilepsy are younger than 5 years old. There is still no evident scientific investigations, revealing the major reasons for such trend, but it is assumed by the scholars that minimal abnormalities in neurofunction are needed for disrupting the mechanisms, responsible for seizure activity’ controlling (Kumar et al 14-17).
Prevalence of idiopathic and non-idiopathic causes of epilepsy
There are both idiopathic and non-idiopathic causes of epilepsy. While referring to the clear reason of this disease occurrence, the most common one, defined by the scholars, is the brain injury. After conducting the literature review, it is possible to outline the set of additional factors, affecting the occurrence of this disease among children: low rates of oxygen in the timeframe of birth; brain tumors; head injuries, which take their place during birth or in the young age; genetic factors or infections, leading to brain injury; other types of brain injuries (such as strokes) etc. Still, it was detected by the scholars that in more than 70% of the epilepsy cases, it is almost impossible to discover the actual reason for such disease (WebMD 1). Such cases are classified by the experts as non-idiopathic generalized epilepsies.
Idiopathic generalized epilepsies (IGEs) constitute 30% of cases and - as it was claimed by the scholars; they are determined genetically and affect children of all races regardless of their gender. Among the most common symptoms of IGEs, it is possible to outline the following: myoclonic jerks; typical absences etc (epilepsy.com 1).
The risk of consanguinity with a positive family history
As it was revealed by Khan et al (2012) in the scope of their study, the up to 80% of the epilepsy cases do not have the history of consanguinity. Thus, it was claimed by the authors of the study, that the positive family history is not the core risk factor for this disease occurrence. At the same time, there is a set of other reliable investigations, where the positive correlation rate is between the positive family history and epilepsy occurrence is found. For instance, as it was indicated by Ramasundrum and Tan (2004), the group of high risk was composed by those children, whose parents were diagnosed with cryptogenic and idiopathic epilepsy and were in consanguineous marriages. Thus, in such cases, it is possible to trace the pattern of inheritance of this disease.
One more investigation, conducted by AlGazali et al (1999) suggests that one of the major reasons for the frequent cases of the CNS disorders occurrence is recessive genes.
Finally, it was indicated by Hunza et al (2012) that there is a significant interrelation between the positive family history and the idiopathic epilepsy’ developmental among children. The authors of this study have supported their finding with the following evidence-based index - up to 81.1 % of the total number of cases are related to the positive family history. In addition, there are other relevant investigations, which confirm these findings. For instance, Callenbach et al. (1998) have identified the critical role of the genetic factors in the epilepsy’ pathogenesis. Additional emphasis of these scholars is put on the frequent cases of the seizures’ occurrence among the other relatives of children with idiopathic epilepsy.
That is why, it is possible to state a fact that those children, whose parents have been diagnosed with epilepsy, represent the high-risk group in development of the same disease. In other works, there is a high rate of correlation between the positive family history and epilepsy, inherited by children (Hunza et al 36).
Works Cited
Al-Gazali, L.I., Sztriha, L., Darwodu, A., Bakir, M., Varghese, M., Varady, E. Pattern of central nervous system anomalies in a population with a high rate of consanguineous marriages. Clin Genet. 1999; 55:95-102 as cited in Khan, H., Mohamed, A., Zina-Al-Sakini, Zulfiquar, K., Sohail, A., Shaikh, R.B , Sharbatti, S. A., Mathew, E. Consanguinity, family history and risk of epilepsy: A case control study. Gulf Medical Journal 2012; 1 (1): 32-26
Callenbach, P.M., Geerts, A.T., Arts, W.F., Van Donselaar, C.A., Peters, A.C., Stroink, H., Familial occurrence of epilepsy in children with newly diagnosed multiple seizures: Dutch Study of Epilepsy in Childhood. Epilepsia. 1998;39:331-6. as cited in Khan, H., Mohamed, A., Zina-Al-Sakini, Zulfiquar, K., Sohail, A., Shaikh, R.B , Sharbatti, S. A., Mathew, E. Consanguinity, family history and risk of epilepsy: A case control study. Gulf Medical Journal 2012; 1 (1): 32-26
Epilepsy.com. Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsies. 2014 <http://www.epilepsy.com/information/professionals/about-epilepsy-seizures/idiopathic-generalized-epilepsies>
Garzon E., Fernandes, R.M., Sakamoto, A.C. Analysis of clinical characteristic and risk factors for mortality in human Status epilepticus. Seizure. 2003;12:237–45 as cited in Kumar, M., Kumari, R. and Prakash, N. Clinical Profile of Status epilepticus (SE) in Children in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Bihar. J Clin Diagn Res. 2014 Jul; 8(7): p.14–17.
Gulati, S., Kalra, V., Sridhar, M.R. Status epilepticus in Indian Children in a Tertiary Care Center. Indian Journal of Pediatrics. 2005;72(9):789–91 as cited in Kumar, M., Kumari, R. and Prakash, N. Clinical Profile of Status epilepticus (SE) in Children in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Bihar. J Clin Diagn Res. 2014 Jul; 8(7): p.14–17.
Hunza, K., Mohamed, A., Zina-Al-Sakini, Zulfiquar, K., Sohail, A., Shaikh, R.B , Sharbatti, S. A., Mathew, E. Consanguinity, family history and risk of epilepsy: A case control study. Gulf Medical Journal 2012; 1 (1): 32-26
Kumar, M., Kumari, R. and Prakash, N. Clinical Profile of Status epilepticus (SE) in Children in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Bihar. J Clin Diagn Res. 2014 Jul; 8(7): p.14–17.
Mhodj, I., Nadiaye, M., Sene, F., Salif, S. P., Sow, H.D., Diagana, M., et al. Treatment of SE in a developing country. Neurophysiol Clin. 2000;30:165–9. as cited in Kumar, M., Kumari, R. and Prakash, N. Clinical Profile of Status epilepticus (SE) in Children in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Bihar. J Clin Diagn Res. 2014 Jul; 8(7): p.14–17.
Murthy, J.M., Jayalaxmi, S.S., Kanikannan, M.A. Convulsive Status epilepticus: Clinical profile in a developing country. Epilepsia. 2007;48(12):2217–23 as cited in Kumar, M., Kumari, R. and Prakash, N. Clinical Profile of Status epilepticus (SE) in Children in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Bihar. J Clin Diagn Res. 2014 Jul; 8(7): p.14–17.
Ramasundrum, V., Tan, C.T. Consanguinity and risk of epilepsy. Neurol Asia. 2004;9 (Suppl 1): 10 as cited in Khan, H., Mohamed, A., Zina-Al-Sakini, Zulfiquar, K., Sohail, A., Shaikh, R.B , Sharbatti, S. A., Mathew, E. Consanguinity, family history and risk of epilepsy: A case control study. Gulf Medical Journal 2012; 1 (1): 32-26
WebMD. Common Epilepsy Causes and Seizure Trigger. 2017 <http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/guide/epilepsy-causes>
