Epilepsy in children is treatable, say specialists

MIOT International to launch clinic to treat epilepsy next month

When parents notice their child suffering seizure, they must take a video of the episode. It would help the neurologist understand the event and provide treatment, said Bindu Thankappan, senior neurologist, MIOT International.

Some children may develop seizures within days of birth but often as the brain develops they subside, she assured her audience at The Hindu Wellness webinar “Yes we can! Road towards epilepsy cure!!” on Friday.

Seizures may occur in infants and children. “Seizure is just an event. About 10% of the population normally can have one episode of seizure in its life. But epilepsy is when a person has two or more episodes of seizure.”

Dr. Sarkar said the more medicines a person had to take the lower the chances of the person reversing the trend. Surgery could offer a better control over their condition, especially in patients on two or more medicines. Several methods were used in surgery and in some cases it was non-invasive, he said.

“Precise destruction of the tissue, stunning the tissue, neuromodulation to jump start the brain and correct the cause,” are some of the procedures.

At MIOT, a multidisciplinary team of specialists help identify the right candidate for surgery. While some procedures are used to diagnose the cause of epilepsy, others are used to treat it. Age, type of the epilepsy and character of epileptogenic zone in the brain decides who is the best candidate for surgery, Dr. Sarkar added.