Can an EKG show brain damage?
An EEG can determine changes in brain activity that might be useful in diagnosing brain disorders, especially epilepsy or another seizure disorder. An EEG might also be helpful for diagnosing or treating the following disorders: Brain tumor. Brain damage from head injury.
What does an EKG of the brain show?
Overview. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a noninvasive test that records electrical patterns in your brain. The test is used to help diagnose conditions such as seizures, epilepsy, head injuries, dizziness, headaches, brain tumors and sleeping problems. It can also be used to confirm brain death.
What do abnormal brain waves mean?
Abnormal results on an EEG test may be due to: Abnormal bleeding (hemorrhage) An abnormal structure in the brain (such as a brain tumor) Tissue death due to a blockage in blood flow (cerebral infarction) Drug or alcohol abuse.
Is abnormal EEG serious?
Normal brain waves occur at a rate of up to 30 per second, but in someone with epilepsy, for example, the EEG may show bursts of abnormal discharges in the form of spikes and sharp wave patterns. Suspected epilepsy is the most common reason for an EEG.
Can an EEG detect a brain tumor?
An EEG is done to: detect and locate abnormal electrical activity in the brain. identify the location of a suspected brain tumour, inflammation, infection, bleeding or head injury. diagnose and monitor diseases such as epilepsy (a seizure disorder), narcolepsy (a sleep disorder) and swelling of the brain.
Can stress cause abnormal brain waves?
One study found that in some patients, anxiety—another term for worry and fear—led to hyperventilation (overbreathing) and an increase in abnormal brain activity and seizures.
Can you have an abnormal EEG without having epilepsy?
This means that sometimes the EEG is described as ‘abnormal’ (that is ‘not normal’ brain activity) but does not ‘prove’ that the person has epilepsy. To complicate this further, some people have ‘abnormal’ EEGs but do not have epilepsy.
