|
Living With Epilepsy
What Treatments Are Available
for Epilepsy?
Epilepsy…is there a cure?
There are various types of epilepsy and seizures along with a wide range of
treatments suited to different degrees. Proper observation of the ailment is
vital to distinguish the enormity of treatment to be applied. Seizures are
sudden disorder in the normal brain activity; repeated seizures characterize
epilepsy. Preventing seizures first will help fight epilepsy.
One kind of seizure is the so-called “epileptic seizures”. There is a variety of
treatment for epileptic seizures that aims to prevent or control the attacks.
Eighty percent of patients with epilepsy have undergone successful treatment.
Although some patients are only healed partially, a good number have gone
through successful treatments.
The following are some treatments to combat epileptic seizures:
1. Medications – the primary means to treat epilepsy is through epileptic drugs.
The kind of medicine, dosage and its side effects are important for the
treatment to be effective. The amount of dosage to be given will depend on the
seriousness of a seizure.
Some of the widely distributed drugs for epileptic patients are:
Carbamazepine- for treating partial seizure. These medicines are more effective
among children. Most patients however complained of blurred or double vision
after taking the medication; others have allergic reactions and develop skin
rashes.
Valproate – for treating wider variety of seizures. These drugs are more
effective among adults. The side effects are gain in weight and sedation.
Phenobarbitone – the most used drug nowadays; which is easy to use, cheap and
effective. It has side effects though such as hyper activeness among children
and sedation among adults.
Lamotrigine- used to help control epileptic seizures. These drugs calm brain
when there is a seizure and can stabilize moods. The side effect of lamotrigine
is that it can be addictive.
Other new drugs are Vigabatrin, Gabapentin, Topiramate Barbiturates Clonazepam
Clobazam that altogether aim to reduce if not eliminate seizure attacks.
2. Surgery. Approximately 20% of patients can’t control seizures through
medication. Before deciding to undergo surgery, a thorough examination should be
done. The physician may also consider the frequency of symptoms and which part
of the brain is involved.
Some kinds of surgery, which is used to treat epilepsy, are:
Multiple Subpial Transection(MST) - involves cutting nerve fibers along the
outer layer of brain. This aims to stop the spread of seizure to other parts of
brain without affecting the normal abilities of the patient. About 70% of the
patient improves through this surgery.
Lesionectomy or Lobectomy – the part of the brain that produces seizures will be
removed. This is only advisable to patients who are experiencing partial
seizure.
Corpus Callosotomy – prevents seizures by cutting the connections of nerve
between the left and right brain hemispheres. This usually involves two steps.
An operation of one half of the brain is performed on the first surgery; if
seizures stop, there’s no need for further surgery; otherwise, a second
operation will be done. This operation is usually performed among children.
Hemispherectomy. This operation involves the removal of cortex or a half of
outer layer of the brain. The operation can be drastic thus should only serve as
last resort. Intensive rehabilitation is needed after the surgery to regain the
normal body activities. Patients usually recover but there is a gradual weakness
of one side of the body. The loss of peripheral vision is also cited as a side
effect.
2. A Change in Lifestyle – start with a good nutrition. Patients undergoing
epileptic seizures, specifically children who have poor tolerance to medications
are advised to undergo diet. One type is the Ketogonic Diet that aims to provide
energy to the body by breaking down fats instead of carbohydrates. A list of
dietary foods to be consumed is given to the patients and this should be
followed rigorously. 75% of the patients who performed the diet showed that this
kind of diet decreased seizure frequency by as high as 90%. Although there is a
high success rate, there are still side effects related to Ketogenic Diet such
as hampered growth, increase in uric acid that leads to development of kidney
stones and possibility of developing heart diseases because of high intake of
fats.
The goal of all treatments is to prevent or control epileptic seizures.
Medication is proven to be the widely used and generally the most acceptable way
to treat and manage epilepsy. While medication and surgery goes hand in hand in
treating epilepsy, lifestyle changes are also recommended. This proves that the
cooperation of the patient is highly required for a better and faster cure. Any
treatment will be futile if the patient will resist and will not be dutiful in
following the prescription of the physician.
>>> Table of Contents
Epilepsy News:
MSN
Warning: require_once(/home/amhpages/public_html/rss/carp/carp.php) [function.require-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/melissa/public_html/healthypages/ebooks/living-with-epilepsy/rssfeed-msn-5-epilepsy.php on line 10
Fatal error: require_once() [function.require]: Failed opening required '/home/amhpages/public_html/rss/carp/carp.php' (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/melissa/public_html/healthypages/ebooks/living-with-epilepsy/rssfeed-msn-5-epilepsy.php on line 10
Google
Warning: require_once(/home/amhpages/public_html/rss/carp/carp.php) [function.require-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/melissa/public_html/healthypages/ebooks/living-with-epilepsy/rssfeed-google-5-epilepsy.php on line 10
Fatal error: require_once() [function.require]: Failed opening required '/home/amhpages/public_html/rss/carp/carp.php' (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/melissa/public_html/healthypages/ebooks/living-with-epilepsy/rssfeed-google-5-epilepsy.php on line 10
Yahoo!
Warning: require_once(/home/amhpages/public_html/rss/carp/carp.php) [function.require-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/melissa/public_html/healthypages/ebooks/living-with-epilepsy/rssfeed-yahoo-5-epilepsy.php on line 10
Fatal error: require_once() [function.require]: Failed opening required '/home/amhpages/public_html/rss/carp/carp.php' (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/melissa/public_html/healthypages/ebooks/living-with-epilepsy/rssfeed-yahoo-5-epilepsy.php on line 10
|
