In this Article

• How is epilepsy treated?
• Drug therapy for epilepsy
• Side effects of epilepsy treatment
• How long epilepsy treatment lasts
• Surgery for epilepsy
• Other epilepsy treatment options
• Epilepsy Treatment Index

Other Treatment Options

The ketogenic diet has received much attention lately and is effective for treating certain types of epilepsy. Specifically, it is used most frequently in children with seizures that have not responded to medical therapy. However, the diet requires careful planning and may be difficult to follow, so it is usually not recommended in older children or adults. The diet is usually started in the hospital, and when successful, it is most often maintained for 2 to 3 years.

A relatively new treatment involves electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve . This treatment requires minor surgery to implant a stimulator, which is about the size of a silver dollar. The stimulator is placed under the skin in the upper chest, like a pacemaker. The treatment appears to be effective for seizures that do not respond well to medications alone. The degree of effectiveness of the vagus nerve stimulator is approximately the same as medication. Vagus nerve stimulation decreases seizure numbers by half or more in 40%-50% of patients, but rarely eliminates all seizures. Almost all patients need to continue taking medications after the stimulator has been placed, although many people can take fewer medicines. This new treatment was approved by the FDA in 1997.

Reviewed by The Cleveland Clinic Neuroscience Center.
Edited by Cynthia Haines, MD, WebMD, October 2004.

Portions of this page © The Cleveland Clinic 2000-2005

Suggested Reading by Our Doctors

• clonazepam, Klonopin - Explains the medication clonazepam (Klonopin), a drug used for the short-term relief of the symptoms of anxiety.
• Surgical Options for Epilepsy - Epilepsy: Surgery Options For Epilepsy
• Seizure (Epilepsy) - Learn about epilepsy, or seizure disorder. Causes include head injury, trauma, prenatal injury, poisoning, medications, stroke, heart attacks, alcoholism, infection, and more. Symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment information is included in the information.

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