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epileptic

Natural Remedies for Seizures That Don’t Respond to Medications

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For those of you not familiar with the jargon, a refractory seizure is one that does not respond to medication.

Unfortunately, this is not a tiny fraction of epileptics.  Rather, upwards of 1/3 of epileptics have seizures that do not respond to any medication that is used.  The options that mainstream medicine have at this point are not pleasant.  Vagal nerve stimulators embedded in your neck.  Surgery to remove a part of your brain.  Or, just deal with it.

The impact on the lives of these patients is severe.  Restricted driving, inability to work and social isolation can be the result.

However, I have long felt that mainstream medicine’s approach to seizures is an inherently faulty one.  In almost all cases, the initial, and sometimes only, goal is to use medication to control the seizure.  If this doesn’t work, a different medication is used or they are used in combination.  Statistically, if the first doesn’t work at controlling your seizures, the likelihood of being able to control your seizures with medication just goes down from there.

But there is rarely the thought to heal the brain and restore the way it is supposed to function.  The medications do not do this (in some cases it is actually worsening brain cell function), rather, they are designed to keep one sick brain cell from communicating with its neighbor.  Ramp up the suppression strong enough and hopefully you can stop the seizures.  But you haven’t fixed the sick neuron that started the mess in the first place.

Which brings us to this particular article.

My book, Migraines and Epilepsy, How to Find Relief, Live Well and Protect Your Brian, has a strong focus on the mitochondrial aspect of both migraines and epilepsy.  In a nutshell, when your brain cells cannot produce the energy they need to function optimally, things break down.  Chronic migraine headaches and seizures can result.  While it’s not that simple, this is the basic concept.

When you understand the mitochondria and the role it plays, you can better understand the factors that contribute to migraines and seizures as well as the natural remedies for seizures and migraines that improve brain cell function.

As mentioned by the author, treatments geared towards improving energy needs of the brain cells are “untapped.”  This is probably an understatement, but you begin to see the point.

Overall, by NOT looking at natural remedies for seizures and migraines, researchers have might have missed out on therapies that are more effective and far safer than current medications.  The difference is that this type of an approach to treatment works on healing the brain at it’s most fundamental level–the energy needs of the cell.

Stay tuned…

Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy: Lower Your Risk

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While just dealing with seizures is bad enough, the mind of every epileptic there looms the fear of sudden unexplained death in epilepsy, also known as SUDEP.

The exact cause of SUDEP has not been identified, although cardiac problems are very high on the list of likely suspects.

This should not come as a surprise since, at the cellular level, the way our heart cell develops the rhythm of our heartbeat is similar to the way our brain cells fire.  It all has to do with boring topics like cellular membrane potential and voltage gated channels.  (I usually save these topics for blogs focusing on insomnia…)

There are risk factors for sudden unexplained death in epilepsy that we already know and understand.  Some risk factors, such as living alone will increase the risk of SUDEP.  Some studies have suggested that the anti-epileptic drugs themselves affect heart rhythm and increase the risk of SUDEP.

Obviously, doing everything you can to improve brain health in epilepsy should be the most important factor in management of seizures.  Without appropriate lifestyle changes targeted towards brain health, even seizures successfully controlled with medication are missing the real problem.

Chronic epilepsy and seizures are the result of something being wrong in the brain.  Most evidence points to the mitochondria and the ability of brain cells to generate the energy they need to function properly as causative in seizures.

Overall, because of this, SUDEP is a valid concern, but the incidence still remains low.  The progression of damage to the brain, however, is occurring in every epileptic.  This is why the concern should be on brain health rather than concern over sudden unexplained death.

Should you STILL be worried, this particular study provides some additional help.

Get a pet.

Yup.  It can be that simple.  Researchers looked at the rate of SUDEP in a group of 1092 epileptics and looked at those who had succumbed to SUDEP.  1% (11) were classified as SUDEP.  Not a single one of these were pet owners.

On the other hand, in the remaining epileptics, 61% were-pet owners.

While this is not conclusive by any means, it fits with what we’ve seen in other studies on the heart protection that occurs with pet owners who have chronic conditions.

As an avid dog lover, it would seem a simple tool to add to the toolbox of improving your brain health and improving your chances of a long and healthy life.

What  have you done to help heal your brain today?