For centuries, it was referred to as a sacred disease and the afflicted sought treatment in temples rather than the physician's shop. Little has changed in the way people look at epilepsy over the years, although treatment and diagnosis of the neurological disorder has made rapid strides. Dr Samuel F Berkovic is among those who have done extensive research on the causes of epilepsy, hoping, in the process, to break the stigma that still shrouds the often dehumanising ailment characterised by seizures. On Sunday, the director of the Epilepsy Research Centre at Austin Health, Australia, answered several questions linked to epilepsy, which affects nearly 50 million people worldwide and 10 million in India. "If you had asked me in the '70s about the cause of epilepsy, I wouldn't have had an answer backed by science," began Dr Berkovic, delivering the 37th T S Srinivasan Endowment Oration. "Today, we have multiple answers and ways to treat epilepsy," he said, adding that imaging of the brain was the first breakthrough in understanding the disease that was until then viewed as supernatural possession. According to him, the neuroimaging revolution, particularly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), was the biggest step taken towards diagnosis of epilepsy. Advances in the field of genetics, including the identification of genes that cause epilepsy and those that influence the efficacy of antiepileptic drugs, have also revolutionised treatment. "We now know that genetic epilepsy can occur without a family history. Even perfectly normal parents can have a child with epilepsy. At the same time a person with epilepsy can have a normal child," said Berkovic. Describing epilepsy as a highly misunderstood and stigmatised condition, Professor Berkovic said, "Epilepsy can be treated and people suffering from epilepsy can lead a normal, healthy life," at the programme organised by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans), Bengaluru, and NEUROKRISH Neurosciences India Group, Chennai.

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Advances in genetics have changed epilepsy treatment - Times of India