Epilepsy
What is it?
Epilepsy is another disease that has not only been with mankind for ages, but is also one of those for which it is said, even today, that the ‘cause is unknown’ (or in other words, it is idiopathic). In fact, it would be more accurate to call epilepsy a disorder rather than a disease, as the usual degenerative process or damaged organ is not easy to pinpoint in this case.
How does it affect the patient?
All we know about epilepsy is that something, somehow, seems to overload the nervous system of the patient. The electrical metaphor of a short-circuit is usually used in this case – and the similarity to what we experience when we undergo an electrical shock is quite similar to some of the epileptic symptoms. Just as an electrical surge can cause a disturbed video from the TV, crackling of the speakers, vibration of a motor, or even flickering and final shut down of the lights, an epileptic fit jostles the entire sensory system. This leads to analogous disturbances of several types: abnormal sensations with sights, sounds, smells, loss of consciousness, convulsions, etc.
How do we treat it?
Our approach, on the contrary, seeks to strengthen the nervous system from the inside, so that the system can bear the overload without shorting out. Just as in the case of Multiple Sclerosis, the myelin sheath of the nerves has to be supported with the help of strong anti-oxidants, omega-3, water soluble vitamins, calcium and magnesium. Omega-3 is also extremely helpful during pregnancy or even prior to conception, in order to strengthen the neural tube of the child. Since epilepsy is usually accompanied by a lack of development of thermo-regulatory center as well, occasionally fevers are accompanied by convulsions – the so-called febrile convulsions in children – where cold sponging helps to calm down both the fever and nerves, and prevent further jolts to the delicate nervous system.
In summary, it is important to actually treat the patient to revamp the entire nervous system, and make sure that this disorder is put back in order. Only that provides a real relief to the patient.
How does Allopathy handle it?
The usual allopathic approach to epilepsy is to put the nervous system (and sometimes even the poor patient) in a strait-jacket. By introducing chemicals that suppress neural activity, allopathic drugs such as phenobarbitone and valproic acid create a numbness and slowness in the patient, even leading to a slowing of the reflexes. This inevitably leads to a dulling of the consciousness, which is a huge price to pay to protect oneself against this disorder. The patient exchanges a sudden loss of consciousness for a chronic dulling of consciousness – hardly a fair bargain or a cure. And hardly 'handling' it.
