Epilepsy Treatment – Is Surgery A Treatment Option For Epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder in every community affecting more than 1 percent of population. Epilepsy can affect anyone, with no age, racial, social class, national or geographical boundaries.
Epilepsy is known to mankind for over 4,000 years and unfortunately the myths, misunderstandings and stigma attached to epilepsy continues to this day in spite of scientific advances and the fact that today epilepsy is well controlled in 75 to 8-% of patients. The biggest problem that people with epilepsy face is the way society treats them rather than the condition itself.
Is Surgery A Treatment Option For Epilepsy?
Nearly one third of patients with new onset epilepsy will continue to have disabling seizures despite optimal therapy with anti epileptic medications. Continued seizures and high doses of medication impose costs on all areas of a person’s life – intellectual, psychological, social and educational. A proportion of such patients can be made seizure-free if the epileptogenic focus can be localized and respected without significant side effects.
This successful outcome of epilepsy of epilepsy surgery is dependent on correct patient selection. This process of selection requires specialized tests and decision making that is undertaken only in a few tertiary care hospitals. The tests include a high quality MRI, and a video EEG telemetry test.
Epilepsy surgery in general is grossly underutilized all over the world, especially in resource poor countries. More recently, surgery is performed, the better the outcome. Surgery is now being performed, the better the outcome. Surgery is now being performed on some patients whose seizures have been uncontrolled for only 1 or 2 years.
Psychological Management:
It is often said that epilepsy impacts not just a part but the whole life of the patient – this need not be so. Explaining about epilepsy and its proper management to the patients and significant others greatly reduce stress and increases acceptance. People with epilepsy have to be given age appropriate responsibilities.
This is most important to develop self confidence and independence. Maintenance of a regular lifestyle like having adequate sleep, eating meals on time and taking medicines regularly greatly enhances seizure control.
