at risk of developing epileptic seizures, common herbal medicines such as ephedra, ginkgo biloba and wormwood can provoke seizures. Infections Infection with the pork tapeworm, which can cause neurocysticercosis, is the cause of up to half of epilepsy cases in areas of the world where the parasite is common. Parasitic infections such as cerebral malaria. In Nigeria this is one of the most common causes of seizures among children under five years of age. Infection, such as encephalitis or meningitis Stress Stress can induce seizures in people with epilepsy, and is a risk factor for developing epilepsy. Severity, duration, and time at which stress occurs during development all contribute to frequency and susceptibility to developing epilepsy. It is one of the most frequently self-reported triggers in patients with epilepsy. Stress exposure results in hormone release that mediates its effects in the brain. These hormones act on both excitatory and inhibitory neural synapses, resulting in hyper-excitability of neurons in the brain. The hippocampus is known to be a region that is highly sensitive to stress and prone to seizures. This is where mediators of stress interact with their target receptors to produce effects. Other Seizures may occur as a result of high blood pressure, known as hypertensive encephalopathy, or in pregnancy as eclampsia when accompanied by either seizures or a decreased level of consciousness. Very high body temperatures may also be a cause. Typically this requires a temperature greater than . Head injury may cause non-epileptic post-traumatic seizures or post-traumatic epilepsy About 3.5 to 5.5% of people with celiac disease also have seizures. Seizures in a person with a shunt may indicate failure Hemorrhagic stroke can occasionally present with seizures, embolic strokes generally do not (though epilepsy is a common later complication); cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, a rare type of stroke, is more likely to be accompanied by seizures than other types of stroke Multiple sclerosis may cause seizures Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) deliberately sets out to induce a seizure for the treatment of major depression. Reflex seizure induced by a specific stimulus or trigger (extrinsic or intrinsic stimuli) Mechanism Normally, brain electrical activity is non-synchronous. In epileptic seizures, due to problems within the brain, a group of neurons begin firing in an abnormal, excessive, and synchronized manner. This results in a wave of depolarization known as a paroxysmal depolarizing shift. Normally after an excitatory neuron fires it becomes more resistant to