Combining Conventional and Acupuncture Treatments for Better Management of Epileptic Seizures
Epilepsy is a scary and serious condition. Anyone who has dealt with this problem knows that when a person has an unexpected seizure it often causes panic and chaos in people caring for that person. There is still no known cure for epilepsy but there are various approaches to help manage it. Most people are unaware that acupuncture can actually help lessen the frequency and severity of the seizures.
Epilepsy – Its Origins
Classified as a petit mal or gran mal neurological disorder, epilepsy is marked by seizures. It has been mentioned in ancient medical texts and has been a misunderstood condition for a long, long time. During ancient times, an epilepsy seizure was believed to be an evil or even good spirit possessing the soul of a person.
When Hippocrates began to study this condition in the 5th century BC, he saw that epilepsy was more of a brain condition than the work of a divine or malevolent entity. He believed that epilepsy is due to a dysfunction emanating from the brain and therefore was treatable. However, since it was hard to prove his hypothesis during that time, he failed to sway the entrenched religious belief pervading society during that time allowing this false paradigm of spirit possession as cause for the problem to fester to up to the 18th century.
What Actually Causes of Seizures?
As mentioned, epilepsy is a neurological disorder caused by a malfunctioning brain. A healthy, normal brain has connections that work all the time. The neurons also send and fire signals in a normal way. In an epileptic brain, however, connection is occasionally interrupted and the neurons misfire from time to time. This leads to a surge in electrical energy that causes the seizure. A person suffering from epilepsy can experience a minor tingle or a severe grand mal seizure.
Conventional Management and Treatment of Epilepsy
The best way to address epilepsy is to properly manage the seizure since cure for this disorder is not coming anytime time soon. Anticonvulsant medications are often prescribed to prevent or treat convulsions. One drug that has been used for centuries is Phenobarbital. This is a relatively cheap drug that has been endorsed by the World Health Organization for seizures and convulsions related to epilepsy. However, Phenobarbital is a very addicting drug that a lot of patients and doctors would rather avoid using. They would prefer using other modalities that have less powerful side effects.
Some other drugs used for epilepsy include Depacom (sodium valproate), Tegretol (carbamazepine) and Dylantin (phenytoin). These drugs share typical side effects including unsteadiness when walking, sleepiness, and mood swings.
Other conventional treatments for epilepsy include brain surgery to extracting affected parts of the brain or remove brain tumors. Surgery is often sadly, considered when medications fail to help relieve epileptic symptoms. One other alternative that can be considered is neurostimulation which is a less radical approach to brain surgery.
Epileptic Seizures – Other Alternative Treatments
It has been observed that diet can play a huge role in the treatment of epilepsy. A poor diet often leads to many health conditions and this may also be true with epilepsy. For epilepsy, some doctors recommend a ketogenic diet which is a low carbohydrate, high-fat diet. Ketogenic diets have been proven to lower seizures by half in about 40% of children based on statistics posted in Wikipedia.
One other means to properly manage seizures is through lifestyle changes. For better epilepsy control, one can engage in highly stimulating activities, view television or diet modification. Other doctors suggest an elimination program to identify food triggers and thus avoid them.
Acupuncture has been found to treat certain forms of epileptic seizures by alleviating nerve excitement. One type of acupuncture, electro-acupuncture, has and is being used to cease or prevent epileptic seizures.
A study posted in the website of Health CMI, showed that epileptic seizures helped significantly lower the frequency of seizures when acupuncture was used in combination with conventional modalities. This means that epileptic patients do not need to forego their traditional treatments since acupuncture can make them more effective in helping manage epileptic conditions.
Consider Acupuncture for Treatment of Epilepsy
If you know someone suffering from epilepsy or if you yourself have this condition, acupuncture can greatly aid you with your problem. Talk to a qualified licensed acupuncturist who preferably specializes in epilepsy treatment and see how acupuncture can change your life for the better.
Davis Acupuncture Clinic
2043 Anderson Rd
Davis, CA 95616
(530) 400-1239
http://www.davisacupuncturist.com