The many wrong beliefs about epilepsy

• What to do when a person suffers seizures

When a person suddenly falls, starts shaking vigorously and discharges a white foamy substance from his mouth in this country, people around move away for fear that the person’s spit may touch them , while those who are bold end up putting a spoon or salt in the  mouth of the person having the seizure.

In the West, the condition is  called warapa’,  in the north, it is known as farfadiya, while  in some parts of the east, specifically Enugu, epilepsy is called ndaafu.

A consultant neurologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Prof. Mustafa Danesi, said quite a number of people in Nigeria have epilepsy. He said out of a thousand Nigerians, five have epilepsy.

“In some rural settings, it could go as high as 15 per thousand, that is, it is about 1.5 percent per 100.”

Epilepsy is viewed as a spiritual attack by many Nigerians. So, they try to treat it using unorthodox methods, Prof. Danesi said.

“Epilepsy is not due to any mysterious cause rather, it is as a result of some damage to the brain or abnormality of the brain. Whenever someone is growing, they might have an infection like meningitis and febrile ailments which may leave a scar in the brain, such a scar will later become epileptogenic which will be discharging electricity and causing a patient to constantly have convulsions.

“There are some people who also have brains that are very highly excitable. They have some inherent genetic cause and any little damage to that brain will now trigger up epilepsy,” he said.

Another expert, and professor of neurology at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Kwara State, Prof Emmanuel O. Sanya, said people should know that epilepsy is due to structural brain problem and not a spiritual attack.

Experts at Mayo clinic said  the symptoms of epilepsy were seizures which could be focal or generalised. The seizures do not just happen, it gives signs such as temporary confusion, a staring spell, uncontrollable jerking movements of the arms and legs, loss of consciousness and psychic symptoms such as fear or anxiety.

Prof. Mustafa Danesi said epilepsy was not contagious and that it was a wrong notion for people to run away from epileptic patients thinking the patients’ saliva would ‘infect’ them once it touches them.

The epilepsy expert, noted also that there were some bad first aid measures that are practiced in the country for epilepsy.

“We discourage people from putting salt or spoon in the mouth. When someone is having a seizure and a spoon is put in his mouth, such a person can bite that spoon and it will destroy his teeth. He may lose one tooth and swallow it.

“Putting spoon between the teeth is wrong. People always have the misconception that the tongue will be bitten during seizures. Nobody has ever bitten off their tongue. People believe that when someone is convulsing, do not allow the teeth to touch and if the teeth touch, the patient will die, that is not correct.”

He appealed to the populace to assist those who have seizures. “If someone is having a seizure, if he is wearing a tie, loosen it. If he is lying on the ground, make sure there are no broken bottles and other things around. Clear the area for harmful substances. Wait for the seizure to run its course because usually it does not last for more than two minutes. Then, when it finishes running its course, the person should be allowed to lie down and rest. When he wakes up, he or she should be taken to a hospital.”

He said most people who have seizures should be referred to the neurologists regardless of the health facility they use as it will take one or two weeks before that person has another seizure.

Is it curable?

Contrary to beliefs that an epileptic patient would continue to be epileptic forever, Danesi said quite a number of people who had epilepsy have been cured. He said  young people who do not have bad brain damage and they were consistent with their treatment would end up cured.

“I have treated quite a number of patients who have forgotten that they were once epileptic. When a patient has not had a seizure for three years, and after we check the brain waves we found out that the brain wave is now normal, we know that he or she has been cured.

“Sometimes for a year they have not had a seizure. They must continue to attend clinic. It is only when a patient does not have a seizure for three years that we know the person is cured,” Prof Danesi said.

Prof Danesi  said  there were over 100 neurologists in the country  and that neurologists alone could not manage epilepsy. Electroencephalography (EEG) technologists are also needed to manage and cure epilepsy, he said.

Prof Emmanuel O. Sanya of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Kwara State, said 70 percent of epilepsy could be  treated with available drugs. He said on the average, a drug worth N1,000 to N3,000 per month could be used by a patient. He lamented over fake drugs and the need to get more drugs available.

“The EEG’s are technologists that measure the electrical activity of the brain. When people become epileptic, it means that there are some faults in the electrical discharges in their brain. Using a special equipment, the EEG specialists are able to measure and pinpoint that part of the brain where that abnormality comes from. This will help the neurologist to give the correct treatment. If they are not well trained, they will record poor data which we will misinterpret as neurologists, ” he said.

According to the President of the Society of Electroencephalography (EEG) technologists of Nigeria, Isiaka Amoo, the EEG technologists work closely with neurologists to produce results which would assist the neurologists in making accurate diagnosis.

Amoo lamented that there are only 80 EEG technologists in the country and that the number is not enough.