Epilepsy
Epilepsy refers to a chronic
condition in which repeated fits or attacks of unconsciousness occur with or
without confusions. It is a serious disorder of a central nervous system. It
occurs in both children and adults. Most attacks, however, occur in childhood
and in early adult life. Attack rates show a progressive decline in frequency
with age. Epilepsy is a very ancient disease which afflicted some of the world’s
greatest personalities, including Napoleon, Alexander and Julius Ceasar. The actual
word "epilepsy" comes from the Greek word which means "to seize
upon". The ancient people believed that evil spirits entered the body of
the person afflicted, seized upon his soul and threw his body into convulsions.
The Greeks believed that the gods induced this disease. The early Christians
blamed the devil for convulsions.
One of the main problems that a person
with epilepsy has to face is continual uncertainty about whether or not he or
she will have an attack on any particular occasion. Patients may find themselves
increasingly inhibited from engaging in social events because of the
understandable fear that they might embarrass themselves by having another
attack. Such people also encounter difficulties in employments and other
relationships.
Symptoms
Epilepsy is recognised by recurrent
sudden attacks at irregular intervals. The patients twitch convulsively and
fall unconscious to the ground during these attacks which cause tremendous nervous
unheavel. There are two main types of epilepsy known as petit mal and grand
mal. Each follows its own specific pattern. In petit mal, which is a less
serious form of epilepsy, an attack comes and goes within a few seconds. The
patient has a momentary loss of consciousness, with no convulsions except sometimes
a slight rigidity, or there may be slight attack of convulsions such as a jerk,
or movement of the eyes, head trunk or extremities, with no perceptible loss of
consciousness. The patient may not fall. He may suddenly stop what he is doing
and then resume it when the attack is over, without even being aware of what
has happened. Petit mal attacks may occur at any time in life but are most
frequent in children. The attack in case of grand mal comes with a dramatic
effect. There are violent contractions of the arms, legs and body, accompanied
by a sudden loss of consciousness. Before the onset of an attack, some patients
have a warning or aura in the form of strange sensations such as a current of
air or a stream of water flowing over a body, noises, odours and flashes of
light. In a typical attack, the patient cries out, falls to the ground loses
consciousness and develops convulsions. With the convulsions may come foaming
at the mouth, twitching of the muscles, biting of the tongue, distorted
fixation of limbs, rotation of the head and deviation of the eyes. The patient
may lose control of his urine and feces. The attack may last several minutes
and is usually followed by a deep sleep. On waking up, he may remember nothing
of what happened to him.
People who suffer from epilepsy are
not abnormal in any other way. They usually know that fits can be triggered off
by particular stimuli. Between epileptic attacks, their brain functions normally.
Causes
Epilepsy denotes electrical
malfunctioning within the brain due to damage of brain cells or some inherited
abnormality. There are many causes of epilepsy. Digestive disturbances,
intestinal toxaemia and a strained nervous condition are very often the main cause
of petit mal. Grand mal usually results from hereditary influences, serious
shock or injury to the brain or nervous system. Meningitis, typhoid, and other
diseases attendant with prolonged high temperature can also lead to grand mal.
Epilepsy may be caused by several
other factors. It may result from allergic reactions to certain food
substances, especially some particular form of protein which is the main
constituent of meat. Circulatory disorders such as hardening of arteries
leading to the brain may also cause epileptic seizures. This type is rare and
occurs only in very aged people. Chronic alcoholism, lead poisoning, cocaine
and other such habits can also lead to this disease.
Other causes of epileptic seizure
include mental conflict, deficient mineral assimilation, particularly of
magnesium and calcium and wrong vitamin metabolism. According to some
researchers, hypoglycemia or low blood sugar is also involved in most cases of
epilepsy.
Treatment
In the natural form of treatment, the
sufferer from epilepsy has to follow a rigorous regimen consisting of a strict
dietary, complete relaxation and optimum exercise in the open air. He must adhere
to a simple and correct natural life. He must assume a cheerful, optimistic
attitude, refrain from mental and physical overwork and worry. The most
important aspect of the treatment is the diet. To begin with, the patient
should be placed on an exclusive fruit diet for first few days. During this
period he should have three meals a day of fresh juicy fruits such as oranges,
apples, grapes, grapefruit, peaches, pears, pineapple and melon. Thereafter, he
may gradually adopt a well balanced diet of three basic food groups viz. (i)
seeds, nuts and grains, (ii) vegetables and (iii) fruits with emphasis on
sprouted seeds such as alfalfa seeds and mung beans, raw vegetables and fruits.
The diet should include a moderate
amount of raw milk preferably goat’s milk and milk products such as raw butter
and homemade cottage cheese. The diet should eliminate completely all animal
proteins, except milk, as they not only lack in magnesium, but also rob the
body of its own magnesium storage as well as of vitamin B6. Both these substances
are needed in large amounts by epileptics. The best food sources of magnesium
are raw nuts, seeds, soybeans, green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, beet-tops
etc. The patient should avoid all refined foods, fried and greasy food, sugar
and products made with it, strong tea, coffee, alcoholic beverages, condiments and
pickles.
The patient should avoid over eating
and take frequent small meals rather than a few large ones. He should not eat
large meals before going to bed. Mud packs on the abdomen twice daily help
remove toxaemic conditions of the intestines and thereby hasten removal of
epileptic conditions. The application of alternate hot and cold compresses to
the base of the brain, that is at the back of the head will be beneficial. The procedure
is to dip the feet in a bucket of hot water and apply first a hot towel and
then a cold one to the base of the brain. The alternate hot and cold towels
should be kept for two or three minutes about four times. The process shall be
repeated twice every day. Full Epsom-salt bath, twice a week are also
beneficial.
If the sufferer from epilepsy has
taken strong drugs for many years, he should not leave off entirely all at
once. The dosage may be cut to half to begin with and then gradually reduced further
until it can be left off completely. An epileptic should strictly observe all
the natural laws of good health and build and maintain the highest level of
general health. He should remain active mentally but avoid all severe mental
and physical stress. And above all, he should avoid excitements of all kinds.
Source: www.healthlibrary.com through www.scribd.com
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