Why there is an increase in Epilepsy in Bengaluru? It is because of because of Life style.
November 17, 2019 is observed as a National Epilepsy Day to raise awareness about epilepsy disease. At Sakra, over the last year around 2000 patients have been treated for Epilepsy. The incidence of the disease has increased by 5% which means about 5 Lac people in Bangalore are suffering from Epilepsy. Increase in epilepsy in Bengaluru are due to reasons such as
1. Life style problems – lack of sleep, exposure to mobiles and smartphones, Night life.
2. Sleep disturbances.
3. Migration and Medical tourism for specialty care.
How to differentiate Epilepsy from Seizures?
2 or more unprovoked seizures occurring 24 hours apart is called Epilepsy. Seizures are manifestations of brain due to abnormal surge in the electrical activity of brain.
How to identify if a person is epileptic?
Diagnosis of epilepsy is made by clinical history and supportive investigations. Episodes of loss of consciousness with posturing of limbs, jerks with frothing, tongue bite or incontinence of bowel or bladder constitutes grandmal or generalised seizure. In focal seizures one may have blank spells. Confusion, starring, stereotyped automatisms along with loss of memory. Rarely can have recurrent falls, speech problems, marching sensory symptoms in limbs and visual problems.
Risk factors for an epileptic person suffering from diabetes include – Hypoglcemic seizures (severe low blood sugar cause seizures), Stroke and seizures, Electrolyte imbalance due to uncontrolled Diabetes.
Prevention – Good control and monitoring of sugars can reduce risk of seizures
Treatments: Various medications are available for control of epilepsy. If seizure free for 3-5 years medications can be slowly tapered and stopped in 60-70 % of cases. If not, one has to look for surgical options which consists of tests like video EEG, MRI brain, SPECT and PET scan and intracranial EEG.
Case Studie: 47-year-old woman had complex partial seizures from the age of 13 years. Initially well controlled with medications. She got married and had uneventful pregnancy. Later from the age of 40 her seizures increased and did not respond to multiple medications. She underwent work up for epilepsy surgery and found to be suffering from a condition called Hippocampal Sclerosis, a kind of scar causing seizures in temporal lobe. She was offered surgery to cure her epilepsy. But she was scared and postponed for few years. Later when things became worse, she volunteered for surgery and became seizure free. She is off medications for past 6 months.
Dr Shiva Kumar. R
Neurologist & Epileptologist,
Sakra World Hospital, Bengaluru
