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As director of the EULeptology Center of the VUL Santara Clinics, Professor Med. Dr. Rūta Mameniškienė, when a person has an epileptic seizure, those around him are often afraid. But there is no reason to be afraid, because nothing hurts at that moment.
“It is necessary to record the time by remembering the minute the attack began. It usually lasts one minute. Care must be taken not to get caught, turn it on its side, hold its head, and stay close. If 3 minutes have passed and the seizure does not stop, a doctor should be called. However, very rarely the episode lasts more than 3 minutes, ”said Professor R. Mameniškienė.
Rūta Mameniškienė
It is very important not to give a person anything to drink or eat during an attack until he or she asks for it.
“If a person feels tired after an attack, and this happens frequently, they should be allowed to rest that day or at noon,” said the doctor.
Although most of the time when talking about an epileptic seizure it is thought that a person needs to fall, seizures begin, it must be remembered that this is not always the case. After all, according to the doctor, there are also small, inconspicuous seizures, which for decades have not been noticed even by those closest to the sick.
A fifth fear the COVID-19 vaccine
It is currently estimated that epilepsy in Lithuania affects approximately 1 percent. all populations.
Donata Balčikonienė, director of the Lithuanian Epilepsy Union “EPILĖ”, presented a study at a press conference, during which 108 respondents with epilepsy living in Lithuania were interviewed during the week.
“We asked how often patients experience epileptic seizures. Some experiment several times a month, others several times a week. Some people manage to control the attacks and have not experienced them for several years or more, ”said D. Balčikonienė.
Donata Balčikonienė
43.5 percent. of those surveyed indicated that the frequency of seizures did not change, 45.4 percent. – which becomes thinner and more frequent by 11.1 percent.
According to Dr. R. Mameniškienė, when prescribing antiepileptic drugs, doctors have two main goals: that seizures do not recur at all or, if they do recur, they are lighter, rarer, faster, and do not harm quality of life .
Those who have not experienced seizures for many years probably have not completed this questionnaire because they consider themselves healthy people, living a full life. These percentages do not reflect society as a whole. Up to 70 percent. People who have had an epileptic seizure have been able to control their seizures with the first antiepileptic drug, ”said prof. R. Mameniškienė.
However, up to a third of those whose attacks continue to recur are not adequately controlled. As a result, patients must consult neurosurgeons, nutritionists, try new drugs.
Lack of consultations and psychological training
According to the study, more than 50 percent. no other treatment was given to the people. And psychological counseling is only for 20 percent of patients.
“I would like 100%. People would receive the services of a psychologist or a training program. We had presented it to the former Minister of Health, but we did not receive a response. In other countries, these training programs are mandatory for a person to learn to live , not to get hurt, to adapt to the home environment and things like that. People need the help of a psychologist, a social worker, training, “said D. Balčikonienė.
According to the Institute of Hygiene, 1 in 216 people with epilepsy attempts suicide and 1 in 1200 does. D. Balčikonienė observes that these numbers are 4 times more common than the general population, so the help and training of a psychologist is very important.
Respondents were also asked if they would be vaccinated with COVID-19. 20 percent of patients responded that they were afraid of receiving the vaccine because they thought it would negatively affect their health and illness.
“This is not true, people with epilepsy can be successfully vaccinated against various diseases, including COVID-19. I really recommend everyone to get vaccinated,” said prof. R. Mameniškienė.
Respondents were asked how they rated the public’s attitudes towards epilepsy patients.
Only 2.8 percent. evaluates positively, 38 percent. on average, the public is somewhat aware of the disease, some people are tolerant towards the sick and up to 55% negatively – society lacks knowledge about the disease and tolerance towards the sick.
“If you know 100 people in your environment, it is very likely that at least 1 of them will get sick. When I said publicly a few years ago that I had epilepsy, I received a message from a classmate who also suffered from the disease. He said that it is very unfortunate that he did not know before, because it would have been much easier together ”, recalled D. Balčikonienė.
According to her, the patient’s family needs help no less than the patient himself.
Epilepsy
“If we count that 25 thousand people in Lithuania suffer from epilepsy, then 100 thousand people really need help,” said D. Balčikonienė.
The press conference also noted that people with epilepsy are still unable to perform certain jobs under the labor code, although most of them can control the disease.
When an epileptic seizure occurs, a person generally experiences the following symptoms:
– sudden scarring, numbness;
– alteration of consciousness;
– look up;
– head reclined, torso arched;
– rhythmic muscle spasms;
– foam from the mouth;
– bruises on the face;
– noisy breathing;
– dilation of the pupils;
– involuntary urination, defecation;
– sleep.
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