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How is Epilepsy Being Treated and What are the Possibilities?

"The management of a group of epilepsy patients [in] primary care by [physicians] and in [epilepsy clinics] is surveyed....Seventy-one patients were identified as requiring specialist review [,] and a consulting neurologist, epilepsy nurse specialist and clinical assistant, completed [the review.]

"Of the 71 patients 31 had experienced no seizures in the past 5 years, 40 had experienced seizures in the past 5 years, of whom 32 had experienced seizures in the last year. Sixteen were suffering at least one seizure per month, and a few had poorly controlled epilepsy....52 patients reported side effects and 15 poor compliance.

"Many patients reviewed were considered to be taking unnecessary medication and suffering unnecessary side effects. There is a need for improved epilepsy management in primary care [by the physician] and better liaison between primary and [clinic] care....Goodwin, Wade, Luke & Davis, Dept. of Neurology, Northampton General Hosp., Northampton, UK. Seizure Journal, Dec., 2002.

"Induction of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been described in a wide range of neurological diseases including animal models of epilepsy."....Desjardins, Sauvageau, et al, Neuroscience Res. Unit, Hospital Saint-Luc, Montreal, Canada, in Neurochem Int., March, 2003.

This one above would seem to indicate the possibility of using aspirin, since it inhibits COX-2. However, we have seen no research to back this up.

Other studies point to the similarity between bi-polar disease (depression) and epilepsy. This appears to point to the use of anti-depressants, or nutrients that have similar effects as anti-depressants. Tryptophan, a protein, is a precursor to serotonin, and the increase in serotonin, a neurotransmitter, is the objective of anti-depressant drugs. The natural way to increase tryptophan is to eat foods and nutrients rich in it, i.e., ginger, ginkgo, St. John's Wort. These are essentially free of side effects, but have not been clinically tested for epilepsy. Additional reports point to vitamin deficiencies in epilepsy, notably B6, B12 and folate. The best way to get these is in such foods as; pinto and navy beans, broccoli, okra, brussels sprouts, kale, peas, radishes, asparagus, onions, spinach and bananas. To be efficacious (unproven,) one would have to consume many of these foods every day.