article_snippet: If people with epilepsy see a specialist, it is usually clarified,' a specialist says.
article_snippet: Epilepsy, which affects more than 600,000 people in the UK, is characterised by recurrent seizures or sudden bursts of intense, abnormal electrical activity in the brain that disrupt the way it works.
article_snippet: But there are many kinds of epileptic seizure.
article_snippet: Dr Hannah Cock, consultant neurologist at St George's Hospital, London, and the University of London, says: 'The bit of the brain where the seizure starts and the path where the electrical discharge then spreads can vary enormously between individuals - which is why there are so many different ways people can experience an epileptic seizure.'
article_snippet: Other seizures may involve a feeling of deja vu, which can make diagnosis difficult, since this is 'a normal phenomenon that we all sometimes experience', says Dr Cock, who is also clinical adviser to the charity Epilepsy Action. '
article_snippet: But diagnosis can be hard, as there's no definitive test for epilepsy.
article_snippet: An MRI scan can identify possible causes such as scarring on the brain, while an electroencephalogram, where electrodes are attached to the scalp, can help detect unusual brain activity associated with epilepsy.
article_snippet: But this can also be normal in people with epilepsy, or show minor changes in people without.
article_snippet: During the seizure, the patient may look blank and be completely amnesiac through the episode, losing a bit of time.'
article_snippet: People with Epilepsy may also have involuntary facial or hand movements, as Louise did, which indicate the electrical discharge has spread to an area of the brain involved in movement.
article_snippet: the diagnosis never occurred to me that I might have epilepsy.
article_snippet: non-epileptic seizures account for up to 30 per cent of people referred to epilepsy clinics.
article_snippet: Visit Epilepsy Action at epilepsy.org.uk and epilepsysociety.org.uk .