Can seizures occur during sleep?

  Epilepsy is a chronic disease in which sudden abnormal discharges of neurons in the brain cause transient brain dysfunction. The World Health Organization reports that there are about 50 million people with epilepsy worldwide, and about 9 million in China, of whom 6 million patients still have seizures each year, and 400,000 new cases occur each year, and nearly 60% of patients do not receive regular antiepileptic treatment. Epilepsy, an ancient common neurological condition, is a serious health hazard and affects the quality of daily life of patients and their families.  Currently, at least 25% of seizures in the epilepsy population are sleep-related, and sleep-related epilepsy is defined as those seizures that occur during sleep or are more likely to occur during sleep. Regardless of the cause of epilepsy, irregular sleep-wake cycles, sleep disorders such as sleep deprivation, sleep apnea, and even the improper use of antiepileptic drugs can be contributing factors to sleep-related epilepsy. So how can we know the seizures during sleep in this case? And how do seizures themselves or after oral antiepileptic drugs affect our sleep structure?  Polysomnography can record EEG, EMG, ECG, respiration and end-arterial oxygenation while recording the sleep structure of epilepsy patients at night. This test can help us to solve the above problems and give us a more comprehensive understanding of the series of physiological changes during seizures during sleep and the effects on our own sleep structure after long-term medication.