50 million epilepsy patients in Pakistan

LAHORE: Medical experts said that more than 50 million people in Pakistan suffer from epilepsy and about 9 out of every 1,000 people in Pakistan are affected by this disease. The prevalence of this disease is around 1pc which is very high ratio. He said that the main cause of epilepsy after 50 years is high blood pressure, diabetes and brain tumors while effective measures can be used to control this disease.

These views were expressed in a walk held at Punjab Institute of Neurosciences (PINS) under the leadership of the Caretaker Minister for Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Prof Dr Javed Akram on World Epilepsy Day.

Prof Dr Javed Akram said that there is an urgent need to promote research in the medical schools of the province. He said that a grand operation is going on in Punjab against the quakes who are playing with human lives. He added that PINS will create an integrated parking system for the convenience of patients and their families.

Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood, Prof Mohsin Zaheer said that Epilepsy is one of the major neurological diseases in the world which is caused by a disorder in the brain cells and patients with this disease have occasional spells. He added that the care and upkeep of such a patient becomes a permanent responsibility of his family for which they have to face long term difficulties as well.

Prof Asif Bashir, Prof Ahsan Noman, MS Dr Khalid Bin Aslam, Dr Shahid Mukhtar, Nursing Superintendent Razia Shamim and a large number of doctors, nurses and paramedics were present on the occasion. They also carried banners and pamphlets on disease awareness, prevention and symptoms. ED PINS said that the development of medical science and availability of modern medicines in the market has made it possible to treat Epilepsy disease in a better way. He said that due to modern trends in neuro-medical sciences, it is important to create awareness among the people about the diagnosis of Epilepsy so that people can seek treatment from an authorized doctor instead of going to quacks.

Prof Khalid said that the epilepsy patient should keep the medicine prescribed by the doctor with him at all times and should tie a band on the hand on which is written about his illness and he should be told that in case of stroke he should take the medicine.

Explaining the symptoms of this disease, Prof Mohsin Zaheer and Dr Shahid Mukhtar said that during epileptic seizures, the patient faints, the tongue gets stuck between the teeth, the hands and feet become twisted or stiff, the pupils of the eyes go up, the mouth becomes stiff. Symptoms of epilepsy are asymptomatic, with seizures lasting 1 to 2 minutes and if a patient has these symptoms for more than five minutes, he should be taken to hospital immediately. When children do any work, they suddenly become numb or silent for 10 to 15 seconds. Some epilepsy patients suddenly fall down while standing and they are more likely to get head injuries. They referring to the precautionary measures during the visit, he said that during epileptic seizures, a cloth should not be stuffed in the mouth of the patient, if there is a scarf or tie around the neck, loosen it, remove the sharp objects so that the patient is not injured. Lay down him on one side so that the tongue does not go down the throat.

MS Dr Khalid bin Aslam said that due to availability of modern medicines for the treatment of epilepsy, the disease has not been fatal, however, in case of accidents, there are still dangers for such patients.