Epilepsy: a single drug to stop seizures

A drug that is taken only once a day to stop epileptic seizures would prove to be just as effective as a drug to be taken twice, according to a new study funded by the Portuguese laboratory BIAL-Portela & Ca., and which will be presented on April 19 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, in Vancouver (Canada)

“Having a treatment option that allows you to take a drug only once a day can be interesting for newly diagnosed patients who need to learn how to manage their treatment”.

“The study shows that eslicarbazepine would be as effective as carbamazepine in preventing seizures, an older, more prescribed drug from which it is derived,” said Dr. Sean Hwang, neurologist at the Great Neck Epilepsy Care Center in New York (USA).

Currently, carbamazepine, marketed in the early 1960s, is the first drug prescribed to patients who suffer from epileptic seizures, whether these seizures are partial (without loss of consciousness) or complex (with loss of consciousness). A study of the two drugs found that 71% of patients taking eslicarbazepine and 76% of those taking carbamazepine had been seizure-free for at least 6 months.

Source: Once-a-day epilepsy drug may prevent seizures as well as twice-a-day drug, American Academy of Neurology’s 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada. 2016