1. Causes and Types of Epilepsy
By Ilyas Munshi

2. Introduction
• As the head of a thriving private neurosurgical practice
in Lafayette, Louisiana, Dr. Ilyas Munshi has treated a
number of patients with epilepsy. Dr. Ilyas Munshi offers
an in-depth knowledge of the condition and the surgical
options available to address it.
Physicians define a type of epilepsy based on its root
causes and, secondarily, its manifesting symptoms. If an
epileptic disorder has a diagnosable cause, doctors will
typically classify it as symptomatic epilepsy. These
disorders may be either congenital or secondary to a
medical condition or injury. Common causes of
symptomatic epilepsy include contracted diseases,
developmental disorders, and genetic predisposition.

3. Epilepsy
• Other types of epilepsy have no known cause. If a
physician suspects that a patient's epilepsy stems
from his or her family history but cannot identify a
particular root cause, that patient's diagnosis will
typically be idiopathic epilepsy. By contrast, if a
doctor cannot uncover any likely cause of a patient's
epilepsy, despite testing and an in-depth review of
the family history, he or she will likely diagnose the
patient with cryptogenic epilepsy. Experts tend
toward a belief that these disorders stem from
undefined brain abnormalities.