Abstract

A STATISTICAL ASSESSMENT OF DRUG PRESCRIPTION PATTERN FOR EPILEPSY MANAGEMENT

Raut Swapnil M.*, Dr. Jain Brijendra B. and Khadke Anand P.

ABSTRACT

Epilepsy is defined as the repeated occurrence of sudden, excessive and/or synchronous discharges in cerebral cortical neurons resulting in disruption of consciousness, disturbance of sensation, movements, impairment of mental function, or some combination of these signs. Because of their sudden nature, seizures are called ictal events, from the Latin ictus meaning ‘to strike’. The terms epilepsy, seizure and convulsion are not synonymous. A seizure always is symptom of abnormal function in the central nervous system (CNS) rather than a disease in itself. A seizure discharge may be initiated in an entirely normal cerebral cortex by a variety of acute insults, such as withdrawal from alcohol, low blood sodium, or certain toxins. Seizures are to be distinguished from epilepsy, which is a chronic condition in which seizures occur repeatedly due to an underlying brain abnormality which persists between seizures. A convulsion is a forceful involuntary contraction of skeletal muscles. A convulsion is a physical manifestation of a seizure, but the term is inappropriate as a synonym for epilepsy when epilepsy may consist only of a temporary alteration of consciousness or sensation. Epilepsy does not significantly alter life expectancy, but quality of life may be seriously compromised when seizures are not satisfactorily managed. This work was aimed to understand awareness of epilepsy in pharmacist. Thus study was performed to check awareness about the drugs used for patients are suffering from epilepsy. This work was carried out for finding the way of diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy with the help of that survey we can find out prescription pattern and the most commonly used drug for treatment of Epilepsy.

Keywords: Epilepsy, Anti-epileptics, Prescription Pattern.