Karnataka - Bangalore

Epilepsy easily treatable, say doctors

Bangalore: Life was miserable for 10-year-old Rahil just two years ago. Studying in fifth standard of a reputed school in Jayanagar, Rahil used to be sent out of class frequently by his teachers for “being abusive” and pushing and beating other children.

Although he is an intelligent child, his academic performance was bad and he had developed behavioural problems over the years. At least five times a week he suddenly felt frightened and his heart beat went up. He used to run to his mother and cling on to her for sometime without any response.

The parents and teachers mistook him to be a brat and did not know what to do. It was only after Rahil was taken to doctors that they realised their child was suffering from “temporal lobe epilepsy”, a disorder of the brain.

Under treatment for the last two years, Rahil is a disciplined child now.

Suleman, 28, a fruit vendor in Tumkur, had similar problems. He got seizures at least once in two months, bit his tongue and injured himself.

After that he used to be down for a week with vomiting and body pain. With a swollen tongue, he could not swallow anything or even talk.

Doctors diagnosed his condition as “tonic-clonic epilepsy” and two-and-a-half years under treatment, Suleman is perfectly normal now.

These are just two of the eight million people in the country who suffer from epilepsy.

A recent study conducted by the Department of Neurology and Epidemiology of NIMHANS reveals that several people, including newly diagnosed patients often have many misunderstandings about the disease and believe that they cannot lead normal healthy lives.

But doctors disagree. P. Satishchandra, Professor of Neurology at the Department of Neurology in NIMHANS and Suresh Rao Aroor, director of Parijma Neurodiagnostic and Rehabilitation Centre Neurology, who conducted the study, said the disorder was curable if diagnosed properly.

Dr. Aroor, who was formerly an Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatric Neurology in NIMHANS, told The Hindu on Wednesday that seizures or fits occurred when there was a disturbance or improper transmission of electrical impulses in the brain. “With treatment, some people soon stop getting seizures," Dr Aroor said. Pointing out that people were familiar only with “tonic-clonic epilepsy”, he said awareness needed to be created about “temporal lobe and frontal lobe” epilepsy, which are caused by electrical impulses from different sides of the brain.

(Names of the patients have been changed).

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