A smart answer to epileptic seizures
Some medical researchers have come up with a digital package to manage epilepsy, a medical condition affecting the functioning of the brain sending patients into seizures. PHOTO| FILE
What you need to know:
- According to the World Health Organisation, up to 70 per cent of cases respond positively to treatment.
- Lakshmi Narasimhan Ranganathan and his colleagues at the Madras Medical College Institute of Neurology in India, have listed several applications available to epileptics, which include those to monitor seizures or reminders set to keep track of time to take medication.
Some medical researchers have come up with a digital package to manage epilepsy, a medical condition affecting the functioning of the brain sending patients into seizures.
According to the doctors, the answer to the condition is on your palm: a smart phone.
In Africa, there are around 10 million epilepsy patients, 80 per cent of who are not on convectional medication. People with epilepsy and their families suffer from stigma and discrimination.
According to the World Health Organisation, up to 70 per cent of cases respond positively to treatment.
Lakshmi Narasimhan Ranganathan and his colleagues at the Madras Medical College Institute of Neurology in India, have listed several applications available to epileptics, which include those to monitor seizures or reminders set to keep track of time to take medication.
ERASILY DETECT MOTION
In an article published in the International Journal of Epilepsy, the doctors explain that phones with the applications can easily detect motion and also collect data leading to more accurate doses of medication based on the actual occurrences.
“People with epilepsy may have a seizure today and another in a month, but they are taking drugs all the time,”
“If there were a monitor to inform patients of a seizure, then they could take a dose of medication at that time alone," explains Ranganathan, the lead researcher in peer-reviewed The International Journal of Epilepsy, published by Elsevier on behalf of the Indian Epilepsy Society.
Around 65 million people suffer from epilepsy globally, which is about 1 per cent of people below the age of 20 and 3 per cent of the population.
"Mobile phones have everything you need," said the researchers. "There are mobile apps available in two categories: apps for patients with mobiles and for healthcare professionals. For patients, there are seizure diary apps and apps full of epilepsy information."
"In the future, I expect there will be thematic mobile phones specifically for people with epilepsy or diabetes, for example. Starting from the detection of a seizure, the app will inform the physician about the seizure." says the neurologist.
This article was first published in the Africa Review.
