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1. What
is Chinese herbal medicine, how about the efficacy of the Chinese herbal
medicine in epilepsy therapy?
Chinese
herbal medicines refer to many kinds of natural plants, some animals like worms,
and minerals in nature. They can be used for therapy of diseases substituted for
chemical compounds. At present, the basic therapeutic method for epilepsy is
medication, including Chinese herbal medicine and chemical drugs. Of course they
also have other methods such as acupuncture and moxibustion and operation.
Therapy for epilepsy with Chinese herbal medicine is safe and effective with
good tolerance, minor toxic side effect and low recurrence rate. It has been
demonstrated that most epilepsy can be cured through early and proper diagnosis
and rational therapy with Chinese medicine.
2.
What
is Chinese patent medicine, how to administrate patent
medicine?
The
Chinese patent medicines are made through a series of processing procedure
including processing, poison eliminating, abstracting to make the herbs into
capsules, tablets, and pills. They have the advantages such as easy storage,
convenient administration compared to water-decocted medicines. The dosage for
patent medicines should also be determined according to actual condition.
Prohibit concomitantly eating stimulating food such as raw garlic and capsicum
with Chinese patent medicine.
3.
How
long can Chinese medicine therapy present effect and how long does it need to
cure epilepsy?
It
generally costs 20 days to present effect of Chinese medicine therapy for
epilepsy and control the seizure. But it may need a quite long time to cure the
disease. Generally it need 1-2 years to strengthen and confirm the efficacy and
some need 3 years.
4.
What
is acupuncture and moxibustion, how about its effect on
epilepsy?
Acupuncture
and moxibustion is a kind of therapeutic method in Chinese medicine that is to
stimulate the acupoints in human body with sliver needles and cauterize the
acupoints with moxa. Antiepileptic therapy with acupuncture and moxibustion has
a long history in China, which is recorded in medical books in various
dynasties. We make further research and development with modern achievements
based on previous precious experience. We first examine the patients by
electroencephalogram and encephalic relief map to make orientation and
qualitative analysis, then determine the acupoints. This method has potent
pertinence thus has good effect. It needs hospitalization and takes 30 days as a
therapeutic duration.
5.
Why
do we emphasize that antiepileptic therapy should exert as early as
possible?
<1>.Epilepsy
seizure can cause damage of brain, which elicits memory dysfunction,
intelligence decrease, and character change. It also can promote the increase of
attack frequency. Someone may think that small seizure, psychomotor seizure, and
limited seizure cause little damage to human body, they are
wrong.
<2>. Epilepsy
seizure can cause damage of limbs, injury of head or damage of other
organs.
<3>.The
earlier the therapy begins, the better effect will be, and the less influence on
psychosis and intelligence will be. Some patients or relatives have fluke
thinking and are worry about the adverse effect of drugs. They expect the
epilepsy can be self-limited and do not get treatment. This is not
correct.
6.
What
psychological status should epileptic patients have?
The
abnormal psychological statuses of patients include: a small amount of patients
who have rare seizures or just present seizures do not pay attention to the
damage of epilepsy. They have careless attitude to epilepsy and do not actively
accept therapy. Most patients are pessimistic and disappointed with
self-abasement. These abnormal psychological statuses have bad influence on both
therapy and life practice. The patients should have such a kind of psychological
status:：
<1>.Envisage
its present, understand its hazards thoroughly, and actively cooperate with
doctors in therapy.
<2>.Do
not be afraid and worry too much that cause heavy psychological load. Indeed,
epilepsy is refractive and has a long therapeutic duration. But it is not
incurable. Most of them can be cured.
<3>.The
patients should have confidence and patience to overcome the disease, should
take exercise, enhance habitus, and improve the defending ability.
<4>.Properly
treat the discrimination attitude of a few people in the society. Be brave to
disdain the preconception.
7.
What
kinds of therapeutic patterns does the Center have, and how much the prices
are?
The
therapy is divided into three patterns according different conditions:
hospitalization (2000-5000 RMB per month for hospitalization cost), outpatients’
therapy (200-500 RMB per month for drugs) and remote therapy (200-500 RMB per
month for drugs and not cover the postage).
The
therapeutic methods include Chinese herbal medicine therapy (in tablets or
capsule dosage forms), acupuncture and moxibustion therapy, integrated therapy
of Chinese and Western medicine, and other assistant methods.
8.
What
about the understanding of etiology of epilepsy in Chinese
medicine?
（1）Psychological
factors: Happiness can damage heart, missing can damage spleen; rage without
release can damage liver and kidney. The irregular viscera mobility causes
turbulence of organic function. Depression can generate sputum; sputum comes up
with energy and blocks the aperture. Then the epilepsy occurs.
（2）Congenital
factors: The mother has been frightened during pregnancy or has been improperly
tended, which causes the fetus congenital hypogenesis, vitality insufficiency,
and viscera incompatibility. The fetus will suffer from epilepsy after born. So
the infant epilepsy patients are especially common.
（3）Tumble
or delivering trauma: The congestion develops when suffer from sudden injury or
trauma during delivery. Because heart is in charge of mind and blood vessels, if
there is any congestion and coagulation that causes obstruction of blood flow,
it will cause blood stasis in heart aperture thus the mind has no dominator. So
there occurs unconsciousness and delirium in clinic.
（4）Dietetic
factors: Intemperance of diet is one of the causes of epilepsy. In Chinese
medicine’s viewpoints, spleen and stomach are the bases for acquired abilities.
Diet changes into body fluid, energy and blood through digestion of spleen and
stomach to supply nutrition to viscera, limbs and skeletons, which makes people
strong and full of energy. In the contrary, intemperance of diet and damage of
spleen and stomach make food and water stagnate. This causes blockage in
gastrointestinal tract, spleen weakness that unable to modulate and digest, and
the food and water coagulate and polymerize into sputum and waste that causes
blockage of heart apertures. This may elicit unconsciousness and tumble and
cause epilepsy seizure.
9.
What
examinations should be taken for diagnosis of epilepsy?
The
basic examination for epilepsy is electroencephalogram. If there is probability
of symptomatic epilepsy, patients should take CT or MRI. Only when further
clarification of epilepsy origin is needed, especially for operation cases,
patients should take PET, SPECT, and other orientation examination; some may
take electroencephalogram monitoring by intracranial electrodes. The final
orientation should integrate all kinds of examination for valuation.
10. The
methods and procedure for diagnosis of epilepsy.
First
determine if it is epilepsy seizure. This is mainly based on: (1) symptoms and
signs (2) electroencephalogram examination (3) exclude other kinds of attack
such as hysteria, syncope, transient ischemic attack (TIA), or paroxysmal
hypoglycemia. Secondly, make further discrimination of types of epilepsy
seizures. And finally, clarify the etiology of epilepsy as much as
possible. |
