Can epilepsy be cured?

Perhaps we have seen such situations in our daily lives, where we accidentally find someone suddenly twitching all over, sometimes with a hideous look and a blue face, and in severe cases even foaming at the mouth. These are most likely symptoms of epilepsy. In reality, there are still many people suffering from epilepsy. There are many causes of the disease, among which viral invasion is a relatively common cause.

Epilepsy is also called epilepsy in medicine. It is a psychiatric disease and is difficult to treat. Epilepsy mostly occurs in children, especially those under the age of 10. Children at this age are not fully developed and are particularly susceptible to the disease. So, can epilepsy be cured?

The causes of epilepsy are extremely complex and can be divided into three categories, and there are many factors that affect the onset of epilepsy:

1. Idiopathic epilepsy

Suspected genetic tendency with no other obvious cause, often onset in a specific age group, with characteristic clinical and EEG manifestations, the diagnosis is relatively clear.

2. Symptomatic epilepsy

Central nervous system lesions affect structure or function, such as chromosomal abnormalities, focal or diffuse brain diseases, and certain systemic diseases.

The treatment of epilepsy can be divided into five aspects: seizure control, etiology treatment, surgical treatment, general hygiene and prevention. The most important thing is to control the seizures, and currently the main treatment is drug treatment.

In clinical practice, anti-epileptic drugs can be selected according to the type of epileptic seizure. Once the drug and dosage that can completely control the seizure are found, they should be used continuously. Generally, after the attacks are completely controlled, the drug should be continued for 3 to 5 years without adverse reactions before stopping. Currently, it is mostly advocated to use one drug, and only after it is confirmed that the single-drug treatment has failed, can a second drug be added. If absence seizures or myoclonic seizures cannot be controlled by a single drug, a combination of ethosuximide and sodium valproate, or one of them plus a benzodiazepine, may be effective. For mixed epilepsy, drugs can be used in combination according to the type of seizure, but it is advisable not to use more than 3 drugs.

The medication should be started with a small dose and then gradually increased to the minimum effective dose that can control the attack without causing toxic reactions. When changing medication, the principle of adding new medication and gradually reducing the amount of old medication should be followed. Do not stop the medication suddenly.

Some epilepsy patients with organic brain disease may need to take medication for life; some people advocate that those who are over 30 years old at the time of onset should stop taking medication with caution, because their relapse rate after discontinuation is high and they need to take medication for a long time or for life. However, 10% to 15% of patients still have difficulty controlling seizures and can be treated with surgical treatment.

About the prevention of epilepsy:

1. To prevent the occurrence of epilepsy, a detailed family investigation should be conducted to understand whether the patient's parents, siblings, and close relatives have epileptic seizures and their characteristics. For some serious genetic diseases that can cause mental retardation and epilepsy, prenatal diagnosis or neonatal screening should be performed to decide on termination of pregnancy or early treatment. Preventing delivery accidents. Neonatal birth trauma is one of the important causes of epilepsy. Avoiding birth trauma is of great significance in preventing epilepsy.

2. Epilepsy patients should be diagnosed promptly and treated early. The earlier the treatment, the smaller the brain damage, the fewer relapses, and the better the prognosis. Eliminating or alleviating the primary diseases that cause epilepsy, such as intracranial space-occupying diseases, metabolic abnormalities, infections, etc., is also of great significance for cases of recurrent seizures.

3. Epilepsy is a chronic disease that can last for years or even decades, and can therefore have serious adverse effects on the patient's physical, mental, marital, and socioeconomic status. The misfortunes and setbacks that patients experience in family relationships, school education and employment, as well as restrictions on cultural and sports activities, can not only cause patients to feel ashamed and pessimistic, but can also seriously affect their physical and mental development. This requires all sectors of society to understand and support epilepsy patients.

In fact, regarding the question mentioned above about whether epilepsy can be cured, the answer is obviously yes. Modern science is so advanced that there are relatively mature treatment methods and means for treating epilepsy. Of course, no matter how advanced the medical skills are, they still require the cooperation of the patients, so patients do not need to worry too much.