Society

People with epilepsy encouraged to seek proper treatment

By Shan Juan (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-24 08:15

BEIJING - Only one-third of the 9 million people in China with epilepsy are receiving proper and timely treatment, largely because of the under-regulated medical market, an expert has warned.

Li Shichuo, director of the China Association Against Epilepsy, made the observation during an awareness-raising event on Thursday to mark the fifth International Epilepsy Care Day, which falls on June 28 each year.

"Patients should go to qualified large hospitals for proper treatment rather than seeking varied 'folk remedies' that are greatly hyped," he said.

Many people turn to unqualified outlets, which claim to be able to cure the disease overnight. Their eventual inevitable failure only delays proper treatment, he said.

"Some are even poisoned by these fake medicines."

Epilepsy, which is also called seizure disorder, is a medical condition that produces seizures that affect a variety of mental and physical functions. When a person has two or more unprovoked seizures, he or she is considered to have epilepsy.

Official statistics showed that about 400,000 people are diagnosed with epilepsy on the Chinese mainland each year.

With scientific medical intervention, between 70 and 80 percent of patients' epileptic attacks can be controlled after three to five years of continuous medication, according to professor Wu Jianzhong, from the Beijing Neurosurgery Research Institute.

"About half of the sufferers who experience no attacks within that period are considered to be fully recovered," he said.

Around 25 percent of the other half of patients could benefit from surgery, which boasts a recovery rate of more than 80 percent, he added.

Li called for compliance from patients, many of whom give up proper medical treatment due to their mistaken belief that the condition cannot be cured.

Wang Liang, a Beijing resident with epilepsy, said that, in addition to physical suffering, he also suffers from discrimination because he has the condition.

"I used to be rejected from school and fired from work merely because of my condition," he said.

A previous survey found that roughly 89 percent of people with epilepsy and 76 percent of their family members have experienced discrimination, according to Wu.

Wang Yuping, director of Beijing Xuanwu Hospital's epilepsy center, said sufferers who receive proper treatment can live and work normally and said stigma and discrimination surrounding the condition should be eliminated.