‘Understanding epilepsy key to control seizures’

Chennai

“Empowering primary healthcare workers to diagnose and start treatment might significantly reduce the treatment gap and the disparities between rural and urban areas", they told UNI.

Quoting statistics, Dr Ranganathan Jothi, Head of Department of Neurosurgery, Government Madras  Medical College, said of 70 million persons with epilepsy worldwide, nearly 12 million were expected to reside in India, which contributes nearly one-sixth  of the global burden.

There is a differential distribution of epilepsy among various socio-demographic and economic groups with higher rates reported among the male gender, rural population, and low socio economic status.

“Many people with active epilepsy do not receive appropriate treatment for their condition, leading to large treatment gap. The lack of knowledge about anti-epileptic drugs, poverty, cultural beliefs,  stigma, poor health infrastructure, and shortage of trained professionals contribute to it’’, Dr Jothi said.

Infectious diseases play an important role in  seizures and long-term burden causing both new onset of epilepsy and status epilepticus. “Proper education and appropriate health care services can make tremendous change in a country like India’’, Dr Jothi said.

“Epilepsy is not a curse or any mental illness or a sign of low intelligence. It’s not contagious either. But misconceptions about it should be removed’’, he said.

However, women with epilepsy, continue to face misunderstanding about their conditions. Dr Jothi said “many women with epilepsy have  children and lead a normal family life. Stating that having epilepsy does not usually make it hard for women to get pregnant, he said though some women with epilepsy might have a condition called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), which was associated with irregular periods and weight gain that could also affect reproductive health, they could successfully become pregnant with appropriate measures.

Dr A V Srinivasan, Emeritus Professor, MGR Medical University and eminent neurologist V Natarajan said “epilepsy can be controlled in 75 to 80 per cent of the cases with right medication. “Early diagnosis and right treatment help in further damage to the person’s mental and physical state’’, they said.  Though epileptic patients require long term treatment, it need not necessarily be life long.

“The criteria for stopping or reducing the medication depends on the patient’s condition. It depends on the type of epilepsy, the age of onset of symptoms, extent and duration of control over the epileptic attacks when under treatment’’, they said.  The treatment could be stopped if the patient remains seizure-free for a period of two to five years. However, there were chances that the seizure might occur again and the treatment might have to be started again.

Purple Day

Beginning in 2008, people are encouraged to wear a purple-coloured item of clothing on March 26. Purple and lavender are often associated with epilepsy, as for example in the wearing of a lavender ribbon.