Humana Seizures: Medical Causes and Management (Current Clinical Practice)

Seizures are frightening events. They frighten the patients who experience them; they frighten those who witness them; they also frighten many physicians who have to deal with them. Most individuals with seizures present to family physicians or to emergency room physicians. However, despite the fact that seizures are among the most common neurological conditions, most general practitioners, family practice specialists, and intemists do not see large numbers of patients with seizures. Given the apoplectic appearance of generalized tonic clonic convulsions, it is not difficult to understand why they arouse such emotional responses in those that experience them, those that witness them, and those whose care is sought for them. Seizures are symptoms of something wrong with the brain. Many different kinds of perturbations in brain anatomy, chemistry, or physiology can produce seizures. For many individuals, seizures occur in the context of an acute illness and will not recur once that illness is treated. These individuals do not have epilepsy. They have transient disturbances in brain function attributable to systemic medical conditions. It is important to recognize these issues, because, first, the seizure may be the initial, or even only, manifestation of the underlying medical problem and this needs to be recognized. Review Foreword by Marc Dichter, MD, PhD, Director, Penn Epilepsy Center, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA "Seizures are big events in the life of an individual. Seizures have big consequences. Seizures deserve big treatment. Norman Delanty has recognized this and with this book has filled a significant hole in our medical literature." -Marc A. Dichter, MD "This book focuses on the circumstances under which seizures develop in any given condition, how to recognize this potential life-threatening complication, and how to effectively treat it within the context of that disease. As such it is destined to become a "must have" book for almost anyone practicing medicine-in the office or in the hospital-regardless of one's specialty or the mix of patient's in one's practice. Seizures are big events in the life of an individual. Seizures have big consequences. Seizures deserve big treatment. Norman Delanty has recognized this and with this book has filled a significant hole in our medical literature." -Marc A. Dichter, MD "This book covers the most common clinical aspects of seizures encountered in many diseases. The different symptoms and signs and management of different medical diseases are illustrated thoroughly and this well organized book makes it easy to locate the information readers need. Seizures indeed are scary events in the life of individual patient. The medical causes of seizures are very common. There are not many books that integrate all this information together. In this sense it is mandatory to have such a book as this one. Physicians in many medical specialties will benefit from this book." -Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Journal, Weighted Numerical Score: 90 - 4 Stars! "...general physicians, neurologists, and those working in the accident and emergency department, and this book, which is both readable and comprehensively referenced, will be of interest to all these groups." -Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry From the Back Cover Although seizures are among the most common medical conditions, the literature on their medical causes and their management is often chaotic, fragmentary, and widely dispersed among a variety of medical specialties. In Seizures: Medical Causes and Management, Norman Delanty addresses this problem by bringing together an authoritative panel of practicing physicians to describe the circumstances under which seizures develop in a broad spectrum of conditions, how to recognize their potentially life-threatening complications, and how they may be effectively treated within thei