An epilepsy consultant said some epileptic patients have the same IQ as those who do not have epilepsy. They can lead a normal life. Some people insist that epileptic seizures are caused by jinns that enter the body of an epileptic patient. They run away and leave the patient struggling for life. In some cases, a seizure could kill a patient if no proper action is taken on time.



Dr. Hanadi Abou El-Ola is consultant neurologist and adult epilepsy and director of internship program for neurology doctors at King Abdullah Medical City (KAMC) stresses that if a patient gets a seizure, he should not be held down strongly or sprayed with water. Nothing should be put in his mouth. The best thing to do is to keep away all sharp metals and things from the patient and roll the patient on to their side. If the seizure lasts for more than five minutes, call the ambulance, she said.



“Many people don’t do the right thing when their epileptic patient has a convulsive seizure. Most of them stay away thinking that patient has a genie inside him or put something inside the patient’s mouth for fear that he might bite his tongue,” Dr. Abou El-Ola said. “These things are damaging for a patient’s heath,” she warned.

 

The best thing to do is to lay the patient on his side and wait for five minutes until the seizure goes away. If it does not disappear, the ambulance should be called. It is better to stay with the patient after the seizure and take him home or call his family.



Dr. Abou El-Ola noted that epileptic patients can work, go to school, and get married just like normal people. However, some types of work are not appropriate and can be dangerous. These include military, Civil Defense, public transport, and airlines positions. A patient should not get behind the steering wheel unless he has talked to his doctor about his safety and the safety of others.



An epileptic female patient, who wants to get pregnant, should get her seizures under control and comply with medications. She should always follow up with her neurology doctor to prescribe the proper dosage for her. Regular blood tests are important to ensure that the body gets sufficient percentage of medication, as the percentage tends to drop over time.



Epilepsy is a chronic condition characterized by frequent convulsive episodes due to abnormal electrical activities of brain cells. A patient loses consciousness and has no control over his actions temporarily. When the seizure disappears, everything goes back to normal.



The condition has several forms: muscular contractions and powerful jerks of limbs, behavior disorder, mental absence or involuntary movements (such form depends on the type of epileptic episodes). Dr. Abou El-Ola said one of the causes of seizures is the damage of brain cells before, during, or after birth. Other causes include febrile convulsions in children, congenital brain deformities, all types of encephalitis, brain trauma due to road accidents, hematoma, strokes, drug and alcohol addiction, and hereditary diseases.



Only neurologists can diagnose epilepsy, she said. They get full information about the patient’s medical history and the type of convulsive seizures in addition to frequency of seizures and the family medical history. Then they run a clinical examination and an electroencephalogram (EEG) to identify focal activities. They can also run a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine the brain.



There are numerous anti-epileptic medications. However, the right one and the right dose should be determined by the doctor based on the type of epileptic seizures as well as patient’s age and sex. It is better to take one medication only, but sometimes a patient may need more than one. If a patient’s body fails to respond to three medications, surgical intervention should be considered. In this case, the epileptic foci should be localized accurately.