Daily Times

Epilepsy is a treatable disease of brain and more than 70 percent patients spend a normal life after getting its proper medical treatment, said leading neurologists at an event to mark the World Epilepsy Day on Monday at Services Hospital Lahore.

The second Monday of February is observed as International Epilepsy Day and numerous events are held worldwide to promote awareness about the disease. A seminar was organized in this connection by Department of Neurology Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) in which neurologists talked about the disease in detail while also discussing myths associated with the epilepsy.

Epilepsy is a disorder of central nervous system in which the electric current of brain is disturbed that cause seizures and the body doesn’t remain in the control of the person. It may be fatal if its severity and intensity increases as your heart stops functioning in some cases.

“There are around 2 to 3 million people with epilepsy in Pakistan … and the ratio is increasing every year,” said Prof Dr Qasim Bashir, Head of Neurology department at SIMS. He further added that it is fatal for adults from 15 to 25 percent while this ratio among children is 3 to 15 percent. Further elaborating the details, he said that every 9.9 people out of 1000 are having the epilepsy according to a research.

Talking about the causes of epilepsy, Prof Qasim Bashir said that the deliveries in uncontrolled environment is a main cause of this disease as more than 80 percent deliveries are carried out by untrained ladies out of the hospital. Unfortunately, only 20 % deliveries are performed in controlled environment. The delivery in uncontrolled environment may cause infection to the child and that can also lead to the Epilepsy in many cases, he added. There must be a department of infection diseases in every hospital and its need is now evident after the Covid-19, he suggested. According to Dr Qasim Bashir, severe head injury and massive usage of alcohol and drugs is a major cause of Epilepsy among adults and it may be fatal in some cases as heart stops functioning. He further added that the Services Hospital provides treatment to the Epilepsy patients efficiently but there is a dire need to increase the manpower in the whole country related to the neurology because there is only 250 neurologists for a population of 220 million.

Associate Professor of Neurology at SIMS Dr Adnan Aslam talked about the myths associated with the Epilepsy in detail as he said that the patient must consult a qualified doctor instead of believing in such myths. “Epilepsy is treatable, don’t hide it, and get its treatment,” he said. He further added that the epilepsy patient can marry and can spend a normal life after proper treatment. Prof Dr Athar Javed, former Chairperson of Neurology department of King Edward Medical University, showed some very informative videos related to the Epilepsy. Prof Dr Tipu Sultan, Head Department of Paeds Neurology at Children Hospital Lahore and Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at SIMS Dr Ajmal Khan also spoke on the occasion.