Can epilepsy be prevented? Maybe yes, but maybe also no. there are still unclear causes of epilepsy that makes it hard to determine how to prevent this disease. Preventing the seizure itself is possible by addressing what triggers it, but preventing the epilepsy is hard to do. The only possible way to prevent epilepsy is to prevent brain damage from happening. Although it is still unclear of how to prevent it, here are some solutions you can go with.
Epilepsy might be caused by some damage in the brain, but it can be also caused by eating foods unsafely. You can get infected by intestinal tapeworms if you eat foods without keeping them hygienic.
This is a classic medication of epilepsy that you can try since it seems work out for many people. The goal of this diet is simple. You just need to let your body create ketones that can prevent seizure from happening. During the diet, you can at least keep the seizures away as your body is fasting under a certain period. Try to limit your carbohydrates intake and focus more on the fat as the calories. This is not an easy diet as this is very strict and consistent. You can’t play around during this fasting process to help keeping the seizures away. This diet should be monitored by a doctor, nurse or dietician. Usually it is started in the hospital and continued at home if this is found effective while still getting monitored by the expert. When it works, the amount of medicines taken during the diet might be lower.
Just because you are having a disease doesn’t mean that you should just sleep and rest all the time. Get your body moving and sweating through exercising is still necessary. However you should check first what kind of exercises is appropriate due to your health condition. Ask your professional about it to get the proper ones.
Have enough sleep and let your body eliminate stress is very important. Especially at night you should ensure that you are not lacking of sleep. If necessary you can make a schedule of what time you should sleep and wake up to make sure that you have put enough time to rest. Be consistent with your schedule so that you can wake up with fresh mind and body in the morning.
In certain conditions you can’t let yourself alone. You need someone to accompany you doing something that might be harmful to you if in case you get a seizure. For example if you want to go climbing, cooking or swimming, don’t go alone. Seizures during those activities would be dangerous so you need someone to be there to help you.
Find out how you can manage your stress when you are feeling down. Don’t let such feeling conquers you. Not being able managing stress properly would influence your brain and it might lead to seizures. So don’t think things too much. Relax yourself and manage your problems. Prevent yourself from feeling stress by minimizing the causes of the stress is also helpful. Don’t let your brain straining by overthinking your problems.
Making some changes in your lifestyle is needed if you want to prevent epilepsy, seizures especially. Consume vitamin D regularly for your bone’s health so that when seizures happen you can minimize the fracture risk. Avoid alcohol and eat healthy foods. Don’t get exposed too much to flashing lights such as computer screen, holiday lights or television. Just avoid any flashing lights that could make a sudden eye movement. Small great changes in your lifestyle will provide you benefits in managing your epilepsy.
Giving some medicines for people with epilepsy is very important as they can help preventing seizures from happening. However, the key for a proper medication is to be consistent in the dose and frequency. Always follow the prescription from the doctor and ensure to take the medicine on time. It will help the medicine to be still in the blood steadily. Don’t think that the medicine can cure your epilepsy instantly as it takes time to get epilepsy cured. For some people it might be faster or longer depending on how the medicine reacts to the body.
Some paint products, especially the older ones, contain lead poisoning that can cause seizures. So if you or your children are suffering from epilepsy, keep the lead away. Don’t make any contact with it by changing your paint or mopping your floor frequently. Ensure the children don’t play with the paint or even worse peel it. Wash your hands so often to keep it clean as you might unconsciously get in contact with the paint. The lead dust should be also removed by cleaning your window.
One of the causes of epilepsy is the existence of head injury. To prevent the disease happens it is better to address the cause properly. Always try to drive safely by following the rules and wear a helmet if you are riding a bike. Never use your phone while driving or you can just stop if you know the phone calls are so important that you should pick right away. Put into consideration the safety of your children as well if you are going out with them.
Improve the safety of your home is also necessary to prevent some injuries. Complete your stairways with handrails and guards and keep your bathroom from slipperiness. It can be done by adding a nonslip mat. Always wear your helmet during exercises such as football or baseball in case you fall during the games. There are many ways to keep your home safe so that both adult and children can be protected.
When you are taking seizure medications, choose your medicine wisely. Some medications might lead to hormonal problems or bone thinning and they can cause seizures. So if you don’t choose the medicine properly, you might still put yourself at risk.
Children are prone to epilepsy and the prevention can be done by doing a good prenatal care. When you know you will become a mother, talk to your doctor about the right diet to follow and what supplements to consume. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is the key for a healthy baby. To prevent such bad thing happens; prepare your baby when he is still in your belly. Do an early medication checking to detect any high blood pressure, infections or high rick at your pregnancies that might lead to brain damage. Getting vaccination can be the solution for preventing infections during pregnancy.
After experiencing some seizures, you should recognize the symptoms of when the seizures are about to happen. There are usually the same symptoms repeated, so it should be easier for you to address them. Minimizing the symptoms can prevent seizures from happening. For example if you feel a sudden stress or depression, it might be one of the symptoms and you need to take some medications. Consult with your doctor about this so that you can be prescribed with the right medicines. The twitching sensation happens uncontrollably is also another symptom. Treat it by squeezing your muscles near the twitching area. If your nose tends to be more sensitive to smell before seizures, then you can try to find strong odor to sniff such as rose or garlic to overcome the symptom.
Stroke is also one of the causes of epilepsy. People with strokes are more at risk at epilepsy than those who don’t. Prevent yourself from strokes by having a healthy lifestyle so that high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease don’t come. Limit eating oily foods and stop smoking. Eat more fruits and vegetables for boosting your metabolism. Get yourself some exercises to keep your body active. Don’t eat too much as obesity also causes stroke. Addressing the factors of stroke can be helpful in keeping it away.
Not only head injuries, infections can also lead to epilepsy especially in children. You need to get them vaccinated as prevention.
Why you should be patient here is because sometimes epilepsy can’t be prevented. It might just come naturally due to the brain structure of your children, medication or genetics. Those with parents having epilepsy are more prone to this disease and those who are undergoing certain medications like the ones for brain tumors are having the risk too. The worse thing is that many times the causes of epilepsy are even undetectable that you are not even ready for doing the prevention. If in case such thing happens, you need to be patient and get a proper treatment and medication.
People with epilepsy should get their family educated when seizures happen as they will lose consciousness and the family should do the proper action. Ask your doctor and tell your family what they need to do during seizures to make your feel better. Tell them to not get panic so they can help you eliminate the injuries.
If you have ever had traumatic injuries in your head, treat it properly as the more severe it is, the higher the risk for getting epilepsy. Every injury must be well treated so that it doesn’t leave any trauma that causes damage in the brain.
As infection is one of the causes of epilepsy, ensure to always wash your hand before eating. Keep your foods hygienic by cooking it properly. You can get infected if you dot pay attention to what you eat.
When you feel the aura or symptoms that seizures are about to happen, try to lie down and relax so that you won’t fall if the seizures really happen. Help yourself to not get injured during the seizures by preparing and recognizing the aura.
If you are having epilepsy, but haven’t experienced seizure, then you can address some related problems to prevent the seizures from happening. It might be the blood pressure, stress, or other related problems that could lead to seizures.
It is common that epilepsy is treated with medications as this is what most people think effective, but actually you can also go natural for treating your epilepsy. However, in order to do this natural treatment you should still ask your doctor first for safety. Don’t just go with any herbal treatment without knowing whether or not it is good for your disease.
The roots of violet tree can be used to treat epilepsy and other problems related with psychology and physic such as nervousness. Its effectiveness was shown in a research that it can be used as a good epilepsy treatment, but more research must be done to strengthen the research and ensure that the tree is really beneficial.
It is said that magnesium plays a very important role in recovering epilepsy, so lacking of magnesium might lead to seizures. If you are having epilepsy, have a diet rich in magnesium, but don’t stuff your body with too much of it. Eat magnesium wisely from supplements or foods to fill your health with enough of it. Consuming too much magnesium can be worse as it can flush the other required minerals in the body. Watch out your diet properly and put magnesium wisely based on how much you need it. You can eat spinach, almonds or peanuts for getting the magnesium or go with Epsom salt, although its purity might be the problem.
The link between zinc and seizures had been shown in a study that lacking of zinc among people with epilepsy can lead to seizures. So supplying your body with enough zinc is important by having a proper diet.
Since epilepsy is closely related with nervous system, you can use omega 3 as one of the natural treatments since it is great for the health of nervous system. This also has been showed in a study that omega 3 can address seizure problems, reducing its frequency.
It has been proved in a study that valerian is great for treating epilepsy naturally as it is anti-convulsive. However, the use of valerian for treatment must be under consultation since it might trigger some side effects when used together with certain medications. It is also not recommended to use this herb for a long-term treatment. Go ask your doctor first before trying this natural herb.
Originated from India, false pepper is a great natural remedy for several different diseases since its parts including the fruit, bark and leaves are all useful as medicines. Not only epilepsy, this can be also used for tumors, rheumatism, and skin problems due to its embelin, which is antitumor, anti-inflammatory and containing antioxidants as well.
If you are having epilepsy, teach your family of how to do the first aid when seizure happens so they know what to do to you without having to be panic.
Depending on where the seizure happens, you must do the right action. If it happens in a dangerous place, move the person. If you are not in such situation, then you can simply move the items or objects around you that might be dangerous for the person.
Never leave the person with seizures and surely you will not leave especially if he is your family. You can stay with him and walk with him slowly while guiding if he doesn’t collapse. Guide him to walk in the safe area gently, don’t panic. If he collapses, you need to put something soft like a cushion or soft fabric to support his head. You shouldn’t leave him until he recovers from the seizure.
Never put anything in his mouth including foods and drinks while the seizure happens. People with seizures might have breathing difficulty when it finishes, so check the mouth to ensure the airway is not blocked. If he can’t breathe normally, go call an ambulance. Any injury or another seizure after the first one finished must be medically treated as well, so go to seek help.
Some of the preventive actions above are also actually about seizures as well as the epilepsy itself. This is because seizure is considered as the main symptom of epilepsy, although some people have seizures when they are not epileptic. In the other word, epilepsy and seizure is closely related, so aside from preventing the epilepsy, the seizure must be put into account. Remember to not use any herb or medicine without the guide from the doctor, change your diet and lifestyle and be consistent.