Epilepsy Treatment for Kids

" You've just heard your child has epilepsy. You're not alone. Each year the parents of 45000. Children under the age of fifteen years -- their children have this mural logic condition."

" In epilepsy. -- issue a tendency for regions. Of the brain -- electrically discharge all at the same time. When that happens the manifestations are a seizure. And the manifestations reflect. Where in the brain the seizure. -- come from. Some forms of seizures may disappear as the child gets older a small children. Usually under the age of three. Are prone to a certain type procedure called -- trial seizure. Which is a seizure associated with a high fever it peeks at eighteen months and is generally -- by age three."

" most common. Form of."

" Partial seizures meaning seizures involving just a localized area in the brain in children. It's something called the nine run and get let's and that's a former seizures that -- I -- you usually -- ninth characterized by gagging or drooling. And almost always as the child grows older and and as a adolescence -- go away. But there are also childhood seizures which persist into adulthood they are various kinds of generalized -- that's characterized by generalize body stiffening. Or by just staring blankly ahead. Well by having staring them."

" Followed by. And jerking followed by -- they -- sees it federal partial those seizures are on associated with the change in consciousness. So for example the child may be jerking the lift arm."

" And be able to say what's wrong with me my left on his joking partial complex seizures grinned as the child to have the changing consciousness where they're not entirely whether it. Since epilepsy can appear in different ways it's often hard to identify. Physicians rely on a variety of information to pinpoint the problem that history that you gifts from the family with a patient."

" Brady -- based clear and the backbone and diagnostic help. For the diagnosis of a patient with seizures or epilepsy is -- EG which is a -- my case."

" Of course eliminating the seizures is on every parents and every child's wish list. For years medication gave some relief but it came at a cost. To you may get an effect on cognition. You may -- dizziness. And as human did double vision they may be various other kinds of effects on brain function. "

" The older -- medications had a greater propensity. To have those kinds of side effects. But not always these kinds of side effects could be almost as bad as the seizures. Children -- you to have problems with with learning."

" And they may have problems with some elements difficulty with sleeping or actually the opposite and made the hyperactive boy irritable will be had behavioral problems."

" The goal of medical research was to create medications with fewer side effects today a new generation of drugs are meeting that challenge. There at least equally effective."

" But there is a definite superiority with the new agents with respect to safety inside affects. The good safety profile in terms of an allergic reaction and something bad happening. It's much less frequent. And much less liable to happen with the new limitations the side effect profile. With and most if not all of the new agents it's much better mail management."

" Use of the single drug known as mono therapy means fewer drug interactions."

" Everybody agrees that at the initial treatment is mono therapy and I was one drive the crime control facetious completely."

" There are very few drugs that are approved for modern therapy in children. Try -- tallest Bennett in approved for mono therapy."

" Physicians do their best to control their young patients -- mono therapy."

" If the child turns out to have resistant epilepsy where the medications are ineffective and several. Mono therapy regimens have been tried. It may be time to think about some type of adjunct to therapy meaning a combination. Of more than one medicine to bring the seizures under control. Fortunately that's situation is and it is uncommon."

" But for children who don't respond to medication. Science has actually discovered a diet that can help. The diet is very restrictive and has its own side effects but is useful for children with difficult to control seizures. "

" The diet that is used in most centers is called the key energetic diet. This is a diet which is very high in fats. And proteins with virtually no carbohydrates the diet is effective for all types of seizures. In approximately 40% of the cases and there's probably another ten or 20% that get significant benefit."

" Surgery may also be an option if it becomes evident after using one or two medications. That decision on not controlled."

" And it's an identifiable area in the brain -- is a scar or or to -- an abnormal reason that patients are very good candidate for for restrictive century."

" And the outcome is excellent. No one wants to hear their child has epilepsy. But the outlook today is more positive than ever."

" I think the future for children with epilepsy is on getting better and better we have. A wide variety of new treatments available I'm excited about the possibility of for genetic therapy and stem cell therapy all of these I think offer tremendous potential. That's for the future."