Review: "Living Well with Epilepsy and Other Seizure Disorders"

On June 3rd, I experienced a complex partial seizure, and as is common with me, I sought out books to understand what had happened. One of the books I purchased was, Living Well with Epilepsy and Other Seizure Disorders, by Carl W. Bazil.

I found the book helpful and encouraging as I would recommend it to anyone going through any sort of seizure problem. The book is popular, so one should not expect this to be a detailed medical handbook. However, it does contain enough information that the reader understands how the band brain is supposed to function, what has gone wrong, and the options open to him or her.

The author opens by talking about how the brain works and why seizures occur. He writes about the many types of seizures. There are and how it is difficult to determine exactly what causes any given seizure.

Then he goes on to write about the differences between seizures in children and seizures ended older adults. He also writes about other conditions that did look like epilepsy, but are not.

In chapter 7, he writes about how the diagnosis is made to determine if the seizure is epilepsy or some other seizure disorder or something else.

In the second section of his book, he talks about the different medications that are used to treat epilepsy and other seizure disorders. He explains many of the basic pros and cons of these medications which is helpful as one talks to one's doctor in pursuing medical treatment. I know I found these descriptions helpful as we determined what medication to begin with with me.

Then he writes about times when surgery is actually the better procedure or may be used in conjunction with medication.

He returns again to the cause of seizures and writes about how there are cases where there are certain triggers – that they may not merely be random. He suggests that there is some sort of initial trigger mechanism, whether the external or internal, though it is very difficult to determine what that is in most cases. He also writes about things that seem to have no effect and the misperceptions that people have about seizures and epilepsy.

He even considers various herbal treatments and supplements and what the future might hold for seizure treatment.

In the final section, he looks at issues of safety and particularly the issue of driving and whether or not someone who's had a seizure or multiple seizures can and should return driving.

Continues by writing about how depression, migraines, and sleep disorders are in some way related to or connected to seizure disorder. As someone who has suffered all of these, this was another especially interesting insight.

He concludes by writing about issues specifically related to women, and issues relating to prejudice and the need for education. There is also an appendix for sources of further information, which is organized by state.

This book is an excellent introduction to seizures and I found it very useful in being able to understand what is happening and to be able to discuss the issues and treatment of my doctors intelligently. I recommend it.