How can I tell when a treatment for epilepsy is working?

  Because epilepsy is a chronic disease, at present, general doctors and even some neurologists do not know much about the formal and systematic treatment of epilepsy, and many epileptic patients do not receive systematic formal treatment, plus a small number of patients belong to intractable epilepsy. So it gives an impression that epilepsy is incurable or all epilepsy is very difficult to treat, and having epilepsy means that there is no hope in life. In this case, the undesirable elements have started to cheat people and money, so that some patients not only have old diseases but also have new injuries, and suffer mentally and physically.  Some of them use TV, newspapers and magazines to advertise, some run their own propaganda machines, buy drummers, buy “torrents” to act as “friends” of epilepsy patients and introduce The “famous epilepsy doctor” treatment, even in the streets, lanes, toilet walls, poles posted flyers, so that epileptic patients and their relatives do not know what to do. The actual fact is that you can find a lot of people who are not able to get a lot of money from the people who are not able to get a lot of money.  Patients should also keep their eyes open to identify these scammers and not be easily fooled. How to determine whether a drug or method is effective? It is generally believed that at least 30 patients should be observed, and these patients should have at least 2 seizures per month for at least 3 months, and the efficacy should be judged by the change in the number of seizures before and after treatment. At least 50% of the patients should have a 50% or more reduction in the number of seizures to be considered effective. At the same time, western drugs that are already sure to be effective should not be added. To promote a new drug, new treatment, should also be compared with the traditional drugs have been sure efficacy, that is, with two groups of similar patients, one group with traditional drugs, the other group with new drugs or methods, if the total efficiency of patients with new drugs or methods than traditional drugs, only worth promoting.  Some “doctors” take western anti-epileptic drugs while giving patients Chinese medicine, or mix older western anti-epileptic drugs in their homemade “Chinese medicine”, and some also take western drugs while cutting and burying, which does not indicate that their drugs or therapy are effective. Many so-called “Chinese medicine”, mixed with very cheap sodium phenobarbital (luminal) or sodium phenytoin (Dalendin), etc., deceive patients that it is “pure Chinese medicine”, without any toxic side effects, and the price is very high, so many people can not afford. These drugs are very cheap, like sodium phenobarbital, 30mg per tablet, only 2-4 RMB per 100 tablets, but some people even mix it with “Chinese medicine” and turn it into his “invention”, asking 200-300 RMB. These people, the face of profiteering by deceitful means has been clearly shown, advise the majority of patients to be clear-headed, should go to the regular medical institutions for medical treatment.