Patient's question:
NoDoctor's answer:
A large number of genetic studies have shown that epilepsy is indeed a genetic disease, including primary and secondary epilepsy. Genetics is the main internal factor for the onset of epilepsy, while various factors that cause damage to the brain from the embryonic stage to the onset of the disease are the main external factors. Research on epilepsy in twins has shown that children with epilepsy have a genetic susceptibility. Family analysis and epidemiological surveys of epilepsy patients indicate that the prevalence rate of epilepsy in relatives of patients with idiopathic epilepsy is 3.8%-10.8%, with some cases as high as 19.8%~35%, which is significantly higher than the 1%~4.6% of symptomatic epilepsy. The latter is also much higher than the 0.3%~0.6% in the general population. Moreover, the closer the blood relationship with the patient, the higher the prevalence rate. The above data indicate that epilepsy has a genetic tendency, but this only means that people with a genetic predisposition have a lower threshold for recurrence and higher susceptibility, making them more likely to experience epilepsy recurrence when exposed to certain environmental factors. Whether or not the disease develops is determined by both internal and external factors. In real life, only a small portion of epilepsy recurrences are triggered by genetic factors. Therefore, patients do not need to worry excessively about epilepsy and genetic factors.