Terra Pharmaceuticals
Epilepsy (Epilepsy Disease)
It is a central nervous system disorder in which recurrent seizures occur due to the deterioration of nerve cell activity in the brain. Epilepsy disease is often idiopathic (cause unknown). But malformations, stroke, tumors can cause symptomatic epilepsy.
The disease is seen equally in men and women, regardless of race. Epileptic seizures can occur at any age, but most often the youngest and oldest are affected. Seizure symptoms vary. Some people may stare for a few seconds during a seizure, while others may experience recurrent twitching of their arms or legs.
There are many types of epileptic seizures. But basically seizures are of two types. Partial (ie, seizures that begin limited to one area of the brain) and generalized (that begin widely in the brain). A diffuse onset does not mean a worse and more severe seizure. The grouping here is only related to the difference in the cause of the seizure. What happens at the time of the seizure (seizure symptoms) depends on where the change in brain activity begins and how quickly it spreads. Partial seizures, as the name suggests, begin in a part of the brain. The electrical discharge either stays in that area or spreads to other parts of the brain. Generalized seizures (there are varieties such as tonic-clonic, absence and myoclonic) spread to the whole brain.
Treatment:
It is of two types as drug treatment and surgical treatment.
Medication:
The aim of treatment is to stop symptoms and seizures. The class of drugs used are called anticonvulsants or antiepileptic drugs. Continuous use of anticonvulsant drugs may be necessary, but in some cases, such as febrile seizures or seizures due to alcohol withdrawal, continuation of anticonvulsant drug therapy may not be necessary when seizures do not recur.
A single drug does not control all seizure types, and different drugs may be needed for different patients. The choice of medication may vary according to the type of seizure
Surgical treatment:
There are two main types of epilepsy surgery. The first and preferred is the removal of the epileptic focus itself (resective surgery). The other is the surgical method (palliative surgery), which aims to reduce the spread, frequency and severity of seizures by cutting the ways of seizure spread.
Resective surgical methods for the complete elimination of seizures are applied to patients with partial onset seizures, that is, their seizures start from a certain focus. As mentioned above, these patients are patients with low quality of life who proved to be resistant after using drugs in sufficient number, dose and duration. If the epileptic focus is on one side of the brain and in a relatively harmless place, that is, if it will not provide important cognitive functions such as mobility, memory, speech and vision after the operation, the surgical method should be determined without delay. This decision can only be made after the examinations to be made before the surgery. Before the surgery, it is decided whether the patient is suitable for this type of surgery as a result of the tests performed by a team of neurologist, neurosurgeon, radiology and neuropsychology, and psychiatry specialists.
Reference:
The Merck manual, 2. Mayo Clinic 3. https://www.turkepilepsi.org.tr/
