Epilepsy: How Complementary Therapies Can Help Prevent Seizures

Your brain is a complex structure made up of millions of nerve cells called neurons. They communicate with each other using very small electrical signals to control your bodys functions, senses and thoughts.

For sufferers of epilepsy this process can become disrupted and cause a seizure, when a brief change or break in the way the neurons normally send and receive these electrical signals occurs. While some seizures are mild and may cause a brief loss of consciousness, others can be major and last up to several minutes causing the sufferer to fall to the ground and convulse.

The condition can affect anyone yet seems to commonly occur before the age of 20 or after the age of 60. One in 131 people in the UK currently suffer from epilepsy around 456,000 making it the second most common neurological condition after migraine.

The good news is that epilepsy can usually be successfully controlled with conventional drugs. In the past several epilepsy drugs were often used together. However, this tended to increase the risk of distressing side effects, such as skin rashes, constipation, headaches and blurred vision.

For this reason, most doctors now prefer to prescribe just one anti-epilepsy drug common ones include phenytoin, sodium valproate and carbamazepine and will introduce it gradually until the best control of seizures is achieved. If you are epileptic its important you inform your doctor of any side effects you experience straight away, as the dosage may need to be adjusted or a different drug prescribed.

Once the right treatment is found, certain complementary therapies can be used alongside your medication to further improve your epilepsy and help prevent seizures. They are also proving beneficial for helping other problems associated with the condition such as depression, stress, anxiety and memory loss. Fortunately, increasing numbers of doctors are becoming more open to such therapies and a few even offer them in clinics together with conventional treatments.

Simple ways to ward off a seizure

Try to avoid these common triggers that can bring on a seizure:

Flashing lights - about 3 to 5 of every 100 people with epilepsy are photosensitive, meaning that flashing lights can trigger seizures. Try to avoid places like nightclubs where they are commonly used.

Stress and lack of sleep - Seizures commonly occur during periods of stress or due to a lack of sleep. Yoga, acupuncture and aromatherapy can all help banish stress and help you relax. In addition, aim to get the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep each night and try to go to bed at the same time.

Alcohol drinking too much alcohol can cause seizures in some people, so aim to cut back if you currently drink.

Food and diet skipping meals, lack of food and low blood sugar levels are linked to seizures. Try to eat regularly and avoid consuming too much sugar and refined carbohydrates which can cause your blood sugar levels to sky rocket.

Missing medication obviously your medication is tailored to minimize the number of seizures you have, so its important that you dont forget to take it otherwise it wont be able to do its job properly.

Acupuncture how needles could hold the key to controlling your condition

One of the most promising complementary therapies for epilepsy is acupuncture. Better still, no side effects have been reported relating to its use in this area and the treatment can be used safely alongside conventional medication.

In a study conducted at the Institute of Acupuncture Research, WHO Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine, in Shanghai, Chinese scientists found that ear acupuncture (where small needles are used to stimulate specific points of the ear) helped to reduce the severity of the condition in some sufferers.

Following this form of treatment the number of seizures the patients experienced was significantly reduced, whereas the stimulation of random points in the ear did not result in any improvement (Acupunct Electrother Res. 2005;30(1-2):43-52).

The scientists also discovered that ear acupuncture is able to regulate certain brain chemicals such as glutamine, GABA and somatostatin which are implicated in epilepsy (Acupunct Electrother Res. 2004;29(1-2):43-51).

How aromatherapy and hypnosis can reduce the frequency of your seizures

Common problems associated with epilepsy, such as stress and anxiety, can be treated with aromatherapy oils. Inhaling the vapor of calming and uplifting oils such as ylang ylang, chamomile and lavender helps stimulate chemicals in your brain that are responsible for improving mood.

They can be particularly helpful for those sufferers who experience a strange feeling or warning sign, such as nausea or a headache, prior to a seizure. Breathing in the vapor of these oils as soon as warning signs occur, could help reduce the severity of the seizure that follows or may even prevent it.

Scientists from the Birmingham University Seizure Clinic, Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital in Birmingham, have shown that aromatherapy can reduce the frequency of seizures both on its own and in conjunction with hypnotherapy.

They studied 100 epileptic patients over the course of two years. Some of the patients received hypnosis only, others had aromatherapy only, and another group received both aromatherapy and hypnosis.

Dr Betts who was in charge of the study said: Of the three treatments tried, aromatherapy plus hypnosis, seems to have had the best and most lasting effect, but it was the most labour intensive and needed medical therapist input. Aromatherapy itself might be best reserved as a short-term treatment for people going through a bad time with their seizures. A fuller and more lasting effect may be obtained with aromatherapy plus hypnosis, but this needs a patient who is prepared to put much time and personal effort into the treatment (Seizure. 2003;12(8):534-8).

It is important to be aware that certain aromatherapy oils including rosemary, sage, hyssop and wormwood should not be used because they may actually trigger seizures in some sufferers.

Learn how to normalize brainwave activity with biofeedback

Biofeedback is based on the theory that you can take control of some of the things that your body normally does automatically. In terms of epilepsy, biofeedback teaches you to control your brains activity to help prevent a seizure (Semin Pediatr Neurol. 2005 Jun;12(2):106-13; Cochrane Database Syst Rev.2005;(4):CD002029).

During biofeedback, you wear a device called an electroencephalogram (EEG) that measures the activity in your brain. A computer then beeps or flashes when your brain is making normal wave patterns. After a series of sessions, your brain should start to recognise these normal waves and associate them with the lights or sounds.

As incredible as it may sound, it is then possible to learn how to use the cues from the lights or beeps to train your brain to create the normal brain waves. The idea is that your brain will then remember these normal waves and generate them when you feel a seizure coming on. If you are interested in this form of treatment ask your doctor for more details.

It is important that you keep your doctor fully informed about any complementary treatment you may decide to try, and that it should never be used as a substitute for your prescribed medication. A complementary treatment should be just that: it complements the existing conventional medical treatment.

For more information contact the Epilepsy Action Freephone Helpline on 0808 800 5050.