Guidelines for doctors for treatment of epilepsy patients in Pakistan

KARACHI -  Pakistan Society of Neurology for the first time in the history of Pakistan has prepared the guidelines for the treatment of epileptic patients, which include separate guidelines for the treatment of patients of different age groups as well as women, who are suffering from epilepsy and require separate set of treatment and rehabilitation measures.

The epilepsy treatment guidelines, prepared by the renowned neurologists of the country, were presented at the concluding ceremony of 7th National Stroke Conference and 14th International Neurology Update for formal approval at Aga Khan University Hospital recently.

National and international experts from United States, Canada, Europe, Middle East and various cities of Pakistan participated in the conference held in Karachi and presented their papers on neurological disorders while suggested cost-effective treatment and practices to treat patients keeping in view the socio-economic conditions of most of the patients in the country.

The guidelines include treatment methodology for epileptic patients of different ages and neurologists treating the patients of epilepsy have been advised to treat patients of epilepsy differently and use the international and national practices for the treatment and rehabilitation of the patients to enable them to live a healthy life.

Presenting the set of guidelines, renowned Neurologist Dr. Fauzia Siddiqui said there were at least two lakh patients of epilepsy in the country, but only 25 percent of them or only 50,000 were being able to get the quality medical treatment of their neurological disorder while remaining patients were deprived of the treatment due to a variety of reasons.

She told the patients of epilepsy, face epileptic seizures throughout their life, which are short episodes of symptoms caused by a burst of abnormal electrical activity in the brain.

Due to these seizures, which transform the lives of patients and render them helpless to live a healthy life, patients not only suffer medically but also socially and live a pathetic life despite availability of treatment of their disease, she added.

Dr. Siddiqui said most of the neurologists and common health practitioners also needed training for treatment of epilepsy as most of the health practitioners were unaware of the disease and try to treat it as a common and temporary health condition.

She said epileptic patients need to take medicines for a longer period of their life to prevent themselves from having epileptic seizures and claimed that apart from costly medicines, very cheap medicines were also available in Pakistan which could be afforded by very poor patients.

Renowned neurologists deplored that as most of the patients are not diagnosed properly and end up in the hands of quacks and faith healers, who not only subject them to torture but also ruin their lives by maltreatment and added that due to delay in the treatment of epileptic patients, such patients often have to face social and other mental issues like depression.

She said the guidelines for the treatment of epileptic patients have been prepared based on the modern health practices and they include separate protocols and guidelines for the treatment of children, adults, elderly patients and women who experience epileptic seizures.

These guidelines also include common instructions for the families of the epileptic patients as to how respond when their loved one faces a seizure and added that doctors have also been apprised of the conditions, symptoms and treatment of epileptic patients.

President of Pakistan Society of Neurology Prof. Muhammad Wasey said on the occasion that their society would publish these guidelines and provide them to neurologists and common health practitioners throughout the country.