For epilepsy, patients, families and doctors should pay attention to: 1. Patients actively cooperate with their doctors The treatment of epilepsy is divided into two categories: antiepileptic drugs and surgical treatment. About 80% of patients can be satisfactorily controlled by medication. Patients and relatives should understand the nature and treatment of epilepsy, take medication on time and understand the efficacy of medication and its side effects. It is important not to try drugs on your own based on hearsay. A small number of patients need surgical treatment. The doctor should take into account the toxic side effects of antiepileptic drugs, patients with frequent seizures (≥4) should undergo antiepileptic treatment as early as possible, and seizures can cause a large number of nerve cells damaged by hypoxia. If a drug does not work well, you can increase the amount or use a second drug. However, this must be done under the guidance of a doctor, as some drugs should not be combined. In order to maintain the effective blood concentration, the antiepileptic drugs should be taken uninterruptedly and regularly as prescribed by the doctor, not to be added or subtracted at will, and not to be stopped suddenly. 3. A series of problems after the first seizure For single idiopathic generalized tonic-clonic seizure epilepsy, the first consideration is the problem of reoccurrences; studies have found that the recurrence rate within 3 years after onset is 30% to 70%. The patient’s attitude may be more important; is the patient worried about having another seizure or is he or she more concerned about the possible side effects of antiepileptic drugs? This is an issue that physicians need to communicate with patients and their families. Once epilepsy is diagnosed and antiepileptic treatment is decided, long-term medication needs to be maintained without interruption. After 3 to 4 years of systematic treatment without further seizures, the dosage can be gradually reduced and stopped; if the seizure control is not good, the dosage can be adjusted or the drug can be changed. Due to pharmacokinetic reasons, replacement of antiepileptic drugs should have 5-7 days of overlapping doses. The time and number of doses per day should be decided according to the difference in drug half-life and the time of seizures. The dose can be adjusted in time by measuring and mastering the blood concentration to avoid toxic side effects caused by blind dose increase. The majority of anti-epileptic drugs have toxic side effects, but within the conventional dose is safe for the majority of patients. The tolerance to the toxic side effects of various antiepileptic drugs varies by age group, for example, children tolerate luminal better than adults. The toxic side effects of antiepileptic drugs mainly affect the gastrointestinal tract, liver, kidney, bone marrow and nervous system, including loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting; a few drugs have damage to kidney and bone marrow; psychiatric symptoms, unresponsiveness, slurred speech, unstable walking, peripheral nerve damage (numbness and weakness of limbs); skin damage such as rash, dermatitis, gum hyperplasia and hyperpigmentation. High blood drug concentration is prone to toxic side effects. Therefore, patients should check liver and kidney function and blood routine every 2~4 weeks in the early stage of medication, and then can be rechecked every 2~3 months and blood drug concentration tested. 6, the impact of epilepsy on intelligence Recurrent seizures can lead to hypoxic encephalopathy, which can have an impact on the patient’s intelligence; and primary brain lesions in symptomatic epilepsy can also affect intelligence, and metabolic diseases are often accompanied by low intelligence. In addition, clinical studies have shown that some of the causes of reduced intelligence in patients with epilepsy are due to antiepileptic drugs, excessive doses, unreasonable combination of drugs, and lack of adequate knowledge of the toxicity of antiepileptic drugs. Only 5% of children of epileptic patients develop epilepsy, and from a medical point of view, epileptic patients can have children. Many antiepileptic drugs are known to cause fetal malformations, therefore, in principle, both male and female patients should conceive after 2 to 4 weeks of drug withdrawal. However, pregnancy often increases the frequency of seizures, and patients should seek the advice of their physicians in advance. 8. Patients should establish confidence in antiepileptic treatment People have less understanding of modern treatment methods for epilepsy, and the lack of systematic and formalized treatment has caused most patients who could have been cured to lose a good opportunity; patients with recurrent seizures often lose confidence, fail to adhere to their medication, and stop taking it on their own. The fact that some false or deceptive advertisements, so-called “cure” and “root cause”, make patients and their families deceived and hurt physically and mentally. The first thing you need to do is to take your own medicine. If the patient has not had another seizure after 3-4 years of systematic treatment, has no organic brain lesions, no epileptic wave activity on the EEG, and no history of persistent seizures in the past, the dosage can be gradually reduced and discontinued. This is usually done over a period of 1-2 years. After 5-20 years of follow-up studies after withdrawal of this group of patients, it was found that 5%-15% of them had recurrence of seizures. Epidemiologic studies have shown that it is often possible to reduce antiepileptic drugs from 3 to 2 or from 2 to 1, depending on the clinical situation, if the patient is seizure-free for 2 to 5 years. The presence of a seizure during withdrawal indicates that the dose is necessarily the lowest effective dose of the drug being taken. Except for serious side effects, the reduction should be gradual. Usually, only one drug should be reduced at a time, and it takes 3-6 months to reduce one antiepileptic drug. Patients should not drive during the medication reduction period or within 3 months of starting the medication reduction. 10, family members should help to eliminate the patient’s mental burden and low self-esteem In addition to active antiepileptic treatment, efforts should be made to make the patient’s life, work and study close to normal. Patients should avoid emotional excitement and mental stimulation, and develop good living habits. Do not overwork, quit smoking and drinking, do not eat too salty, too spicy food, participate in physical exercise, and ensure sufficient sleep. Patients can reduce the seizures through the above self-regulation. Patients with epilepsy should avoid work and activities that may be dangerous, such as climbing high, swimming, driving motor vehicles, operating machines, etc., to avoid sudden onset of seizures that may cause incalculable consequences. The patient should not be restricted too much, and those with normal intelligence can attend school and engage in appropriate work as usual.