Can epilepsy be cured?

Epilepsy has many faces and there are different treatments to successfully manage and control, even if it can't always be fully cured.
Epilepsy isn't a disease but a neurological disorder. It is caused by abnormal, “rapid-fire” electrical neuron activity. It disturbs brain function, potentially causing twitching, seizures, loss of consciousness and amnesia. Epilepsy affects approximately 300,000 people in Canada and can affect anyone regardless of age or physical condition.That being said, epilepsy occurs more frequently in children than in the elderly.

Epilepsy's primary causes include:

• Heredity;
• Meningitis;
• Brain tumours;
• Head injury;
• Strokes;
• Traumatic birth.

The exact cause of epilepsy is difficult to pinpoint since many patients show no predisposition whatsoever.

• Generalized seizures: This type of seizure affects a large part of the brain. These seizures are characterized by a loss of consciousness, convulsions, spasms, loss of muscle tone or zoning out.
• Partial seizures: Partial seizures are localized in one particular region of the brain and differ somewhat from generalized seizures. Partial seizures do not result in loss of consciousness, but there is a feeling of altered consciousness. Common symptoms are sensory hallucinations and “auras,” as well as spasms.

• Medications: The most commonly prescribed treatment for epilepsy is the use of anticonvulsant drugs.
• Surgery: If epilepsy cannot be controlled with medication and seizures pose a seriously threat to the well being and life of a patient, surgery is often the only recourse left. In cases of partial epilepsy, surgery aims to remove the cortex (area of the brain) causing seizures. For some patients with generalized seizures, there is callosotomy, which involves separating the two hemispheres of the brain. Another procedure installs a device, which intermittently stimulates the vagus nerve, located in the neck.
• Ketogenic diet: A diet high in fat and low in protein and carbohydrates has been proven to be effective in children when medication alone doesn’t control their seizures. This technique reduces seizures in about two-thirds of children. It's generally followed for two to three years, but is quite strict and requires discipline and commitment on the part of parents as well as the child.

About two out of three people with epilepsy are cured. In most cases, epilepsy is controlled by medication; furthermore absence of any seizure for over a year is often considered cured indefinitely.