Description

In this health video learn how people with epilepsy live happy, productive, fulfilling lives.

Transcript

Female speaker: During the 2006 Olympics goaltender, Chanda Gunn helped the USA Women's Ice Hockey team win bronze. She says her epilepsy was the last thing on her mind. Chanda Gunn: It's a great thing about having a medication that that's works for you is that it was able to put those, my epilepsy on hold for me while I concentrated on other experiences. Female speaker: Medication work well for about two-thirds of those with epilepsy, but the remaining patients find themselves at the mercy of seizures that can strike any time anywhere. Orrin Devinsky: Uncontrolled seizures are an enormous problem in this country maybe a million people suffer from them and depending on where they occur and when they occur, they can be dangerous. Matthew Robinson: Ready, set, go. Female speaker: Matthew Robinson was only a year and a half when he developed epilepsy. Medication was unable to stop his seizures. Doug Robinson: He was deteriorating and he got to the point where he was having, I would say 70, 80 plus seizures a day. Diane Robinson: You just felt like you are loosing your little boy everyday and he is looking at you like confused and scarred and there was absolutely nothing you could do. Female speaker: When medication doesn't work patients may benefit from other therapies such as vagus nerve stimulation. Eric Kossoff: This device continually sends electrical pulses to your neck, vagus nerve which then stimulates some how the brain and help stop seizures. Female speaker: Nerve stimulation typically reduces seizures by 20 to 40% but doesn't eliminate them. Brain surgery is another option, but only when tests show that a patient's seizure comes from a single part of the brain, a part that can be safely removed. Steven Schachter: Seizures can be thought of as short circuit, like a couple of faulty wires that are crossed and so very basically the concept of epilepsy surgeries to take out the faulty wires leaving behind healthy normal functioning brain tissue. Female speaker: Matthew's seizures could not be traced to one particular spot so surgery was not an option. But his parents learned about another alternative, the ketogenic diet. A very high fat, low carbohydrate calorie restricted diet that can control seizures. Eric Kossoff: It's actually very active topic of research now, why this diet helps stop seizures, but we do know it's very effective. Female Speaker: For Matthew the results were immediate and dramatic. Diane Robinson: His seizures had completely stopped and I mean we just, this was like a miracle for us. Female Speaker: Three years later Matthew is still on the diet and seizure free, but only half of children who try it improved and staying on the diet long term can stunt a child's growth. Researchers are searching for new therapies that could give more patients freedom from seizures without side effects. Orrin Devinsky: The future is bright, I think for people with uncontrolled epilepsy there are many new anti-epileptic drugs in the pipeline, there are new techniques we have to recognize and identify seizures when they occur. Female Speaker: The stakes are high, as Chanda Gunn says, "When people with epilepsy find a therapy that works, they can accomplish anything." Chanda Gunn: I hope to be some sort of positive role model for the kids with epilepsy to show that they just need to keep fighting and if they get their epilepsy under control they can do whatever they want to do.