• How is epilepsy treated?
• Drug therapy for epilepsy
• Side effects of epilepsy treatment
• How long epilepsy treatment lasts
• Surgery for epilepsy
• Other epilepsy treatment options

How Is Epilepsy Treated?

The majority of epileptic seizures are controlled through drug therapy, particularly anticonvulsant drugs. The type of treatment prescribed will depend on several factors including the frequency and severity of the seizures as well as the person's age, overall health and medical history. An accurate diagnosis of the type of epilepsy (not just the type of seizure, since most seizure types occur in different types of epilepsy) is also critical to choosing the best treatment.

Drug Therapy

Many drugs are available to treat epilepsy, several of which have only recently been released.

Older, classic medications used to treat epilepsy include:

• Dilantin or Phenytek
• Phenobarbital
• Tegretol or Carbatrol
• Mysoline
• Zarontin
• Depakene
• Depakote, Depakote ER
• Valium and similar tranquilizers such as Tranxene and Klonopin

Newer drugs to treat epilepsy include:

• Felbatol
• Gabitril
• Keppra
• Lamictal
• Neurontin
• Topamax
• Trileptal
• Zonegran

Many other drugs are being studied, including Lyrica, which will likely be the next anti-epileptic drug released in the U.S.

In general, for a given type of epilepsy there are only minor differences among appropriate drugs. The choice is most often based on other factors specific to each patient, such as which side effects can be tolerated by the patient, other illnesses they may have, and which delivery method is acceptable.

Although the different types of epilepsy vary greatly, in general, medications can control seizures in about 70% of patients.

From the Doctors at MedicineNet.com

Epilepsy (Seizure Disorder) - Learn about epilepsy, or seizure disorder. Causes include head injury, trauma, prenatal injury, poisoning, medications, stroke, heart attacks, alcoholism, infection, and more. Symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment information is included in the information. Source:Government Seizures Symptoms and Types - Read about seizure symptoms and types such as generalized, grand-mal, absence, myoclonic, clonic, tonic, atonic, and partial. Symptom listing is included in the information. Source:WebMD Medical Reference from The Cleveland Clinic Surgical Options for Epilepsy - Epilepsy: Surgery Options For Epilepsy Source:WebMD Medical Reference from The Cleveland Clinic Read 23 more Epilepsy Treatment related articles ... So Much to Do, So Little Sleep Head Injuries All Too Common in Summer Play Health Tip: The Word on Wisdom Teeth Health Tip: Make Exercise a Daily Habit New Source of Heart Stem Cells Found Health Highlights: June 23, 2008 Poorer Patients Have Poorer Survival After Cancer Diagnosis One Gene May Be Key to Myeloma Crocodile Babies Cry Out for Hatching Immune Molecule Key to Preventing Organ Rejection