Epilepsy is a fairly common disease. WHO data suggests that 1 in 20 persons may have an epileptic seizure in his/ her lifetime and at least 1in 200 goes on to develop epilepsy. [1] Anticonvulsant drug therapy using one or more drugs works as an effective tool to suppress seizures in only 70% of the patients; the remaining 30% are either not responsive or suffer major side effects. [2] Surgical resection then forms the next line of management in selected patients. However, in some cases, surgical resection may not be possible; hence arises the need for alternative therapies.
Healthy people may have seizures under certain circumstances. Most of the seizures causes are unknown under which circumstance it is called primary or idiopathic. If the seizures have a known cause, the condition is referred to as secondary or symptomatic epilepsy. Some of the more common causes include the following:
- Idiopathic (cause not known)
- Tumor
- Chemical imbalance such as low blood sugar or sodium
- Head injuries
- Certain toxic chemicals or drugs of abuse
- Alcohol withdrawal
- Stroke including haemorrhage
- Birth injuries