26
The Health | April, 2020
| Issue |
Knowing
more
about
epilepsy
It's important to
address the myths
surrounding epilepsy
the pharmacology
of epilepsy
S
IXTY-five million people around
the world live with epilepsy
with nearly 80% of them
found in developing countries,
including Malaysia.
It is estimated that epileptic
patients make up one per
cent of the overall Malaysian
population, with an estimated 230,000
diagnosed cases, affecting all races, ages and
gender. In 2004, there were nearly 199,000
cases.
Epilepsy is a chronic non-communicable
disease of the brain characterised by
recurrent seizures, and it can affect people
of all ages. International Epilepsy Day was
celebrated on Feb 4 at the Auditorium Tunku
Jaafar, UKM Medical Centre (PPUKM).
The Health caught up with Professor Dato’
Dr Raymond Azman Ali, Senior Consultant
Neurologist & Physician and Professor
Dr Tan Hui Jan, Consultant Physician &
Neurologist, Head of Neurology Unit at
PPUKM on educating the public on epilepsy.
Creating awareness is important
Dr Raymond believes it’s important to
celebrate people around the world with
epilepsy, showing them that they are
not alone thus ensuring they do not feel
excluded from society.
“Today is actually a celebration of
the international epilepsy day which is
normally held on the second Monday
of February every year. It’s an event for
the public. We invited the patients, the
caregivers, healthcare workers, nurses,
medical students, hospital attendants.
Anyone can come and listen to the talk,”
explains Dr Raymond.
The purpose of the talk at PPUKM was
to increase awareness of epilepsy in the
community and promote how to care
for epilepsy patients. The talk covered
three different but crucial topics; how to
differentiate seizures from simple faints,
myths surrounding epilepsy and the
pharmacology of epilepsy.
Is it a seizure or a faint?
According to Dr Raymond, some people
have features of a seizure; movements and
unconsciousness but actually they are not
seizures. This applies vice versa in the case
of fainting. He likens it with an example of a
blank stare.
“School children who suddenly go
into blank stares will be brushed off as
daydreaming by the teachers. Of course,
this upsets the parents who then bring
their kids to hospital and the child is
soon suspected of having epilepsy. The
child is then sent to the neurologist and
this is where we come in,” he explained.
Seizures such as those are actually
easily treated and there are medications
in the market to make them disappear.
Unfortunately when left treated, this will
lead to a drop in academic performance
since the child will go blank several
times in class leading to a lack in
attention.
“If someone falls to the ground,
goes unconscious, develops jerking
movements, bites his tongue and
wets himself, all these can actually
be symptoms of a simple faint. The
difference in a real seizure is when
unconscious, they don’t know where
they are. But in simple faints, they know
where they are. Usually the reasons for
fainting are due to standing in the hot
sun for too long or fear of blood taking.
This is why we have the lecture, so people
don’t jump to conclusions and label
someone epileptic.”
Separating fact from
fiction about seizures
Some myths about epilepsy are centuries
old, but they still persist and have a bad
stigma all over the world.
“If someone sees a person having
a seizure at the side of the road, they
simply act as audiences and have no clue
what to do. They are worried it might be
contagious. Some people believe it’s the
work of the devil and don’t want to see
doctors,” worries Dr Raymond.
Dr Tan encounters this on an almost
daily basis. The most common myth
is people tend to believe epilepsy is
contagious. “There are a lot of causes,
genetic, developmental, brain tumor
and scar tissue of the brain. For patients
who come to us, we will take an EEG
(electroencephalogram) and also a brain
scan. This will tell us if there is a lesion in
the brain that can cause the seizures.”
A lot of the myths surrounding it have
to do with management of epilepsy. One
of them is when the patient has a fit. A
lot of parents will place things in their
mouth. Dr Tan has seen it all. Fingers,
fork, spoons have gone in the mouths of
epileptic patients.
“This is very dangerous. We should
not put anything in the patient’s mouth.
In fact just make sure the patient has
turned to the right, cradle the head,
remove anything surrounding the head,
make sure the patient is breathing and
let the fit abbott by itself. Usually the
patients will be tired after that, so sleep is
essential,” she explains.
“Many patients only take the
medication when they have the fit. That
is also wrong. We have to make sure the
patient take the medication regularly
because we cannot predict when the fit
will come.”
People with epilepsy are still being
treated unfairly, trapped in discrimination
and isolation. Sadly, epilepsy remains a
hidden disease for many years due to the
attached stigma. — The Health