Treatments For Epilepsy
Epilepsy is not a disease and the seizures it produces are controllable.
The seizures are caused when there is abnormal electrical activity in the brain.
Not one thing has been pinpointed as a cause for the seizures, but it is known that 70 percent of the time they can be successfully treated with drugs.
What drugs are used depends on things like how often the patient suffers from these seizures and how severe they are.
Age is also a key factor as well as the patient's total health and his or her entire medical history.
There are about 20 different types of epilepsy drugs, so determining exactly what type epilepsy the patient has is also a factor.
The traditional drugs to treat epilepsy include: · Dilanten · Phenoobarbitol · Tegreto or Carbatarol · Depaken · Depakote · Valium and other tranquilizers.
Newer drugs currently being used: · Felbatol · Keppra · Lamictal · Neurontin · Zonegran There is only a small difference between each drug mentioned here.
The decision as to which drug is the right drug is based on the factors mentioned above as well as how well the patient handles side effects and what other health problems they may have.
Treatment with epilepsy drugs can be stopped if the patient has gone several years without a seizure.
Some types of epilepsy, however, require treatment for the patient's entire life.
There are surgical procedures that can help epileptic seizures that can't be controlled even after trying up to three medications over two years.
This surgery is not performed very often and only 1/3 of the people who do undergo the surgery are helped.
When surgery is considered, it is most often only for partial epilepsy since it affects only a part of the brain.
That part of the brain that triggers the seizures is removed.
Another newer treatment for epilepsy is to electrically stimulate the vagus nerve.
A small stimulator is placed in the upper chest.
The vagus nerve stimulator can cut the number of seizures that a patient suffers by as much as 40 or 50 percent, but most of these patients continue to take medication.
The seizures are caused when there is abnormal electrical activity in the brain.
Not one thing has been pinpointed as a cause for the seizures, but it is known that 70 percent of the time they can be successfully treated with drugs.
What drugs are used depends on things like how often the patient suffers from these seizures and how severe they are.
Age is also a key factor as well as the patient's total health and his or her entire medical history.
There are about 20 different types of epilepsy drugs, so determining exactly what type epilepsy the patient has is also a factor.
The traditional drugs to treat epilepsy include: · Dilanten · Phenoobarbitol · Tegreto or Carbatarol · Depaken · Depakote · Valium and other tranquilizers.
Newer drugs currently being used: · Felbatol · Keppra · Lamictal · Neurontin · Zonegran There is only a small difference between each drug mentioned here.
The decision as to which drug is the right drug is based on the factors mentioned above as well as how well the patient handles side effects and what other health problems they may have.
Treatment with epilepsy drugs can be stopped if the patient has gone several years without a seizure.
Some types of epilepsy, however, require treatment for the patient's entire life.
There are surgical procedures that can help epileptic seizures that can't be controlled even after trying up to three medications over two years.
This surgery is not performed very often and only 1/3 of the people who do undergo the surgery are helped.
When surgery is considered, it is most often only for partial epilepsy since it affects only a part of the brain.
That part of the brain that triggers the seizures is removed.
Another newer treatment for epilepsy is to electrically stimulate the vagus nerve.
A small stimulator is placed in the upper chest.
The vagus nerve stimulator can cut the number of seizures that a patient suffers by as much as 40 or 50 percent, but most of these patients continue to take medication.