Home Cures For Children's Epilepsy

Epilepsy refers to a chronc condition in which repeated fits or attacks of unconsciousness occur with or without convulsions. It is a serious disorder of the central nervous system caused by abnormal electrical activity of the brain. It occurs in both children and adults. Most attacks, however, occur in childhood and in early adult life. Attack rates show a progressive decline in frequency with age.

The most important aspect of treatment of epilepsy is the diet. To begin with, the child should be placed on an exclusive fruit diet for a few days. During this period, he should take fresh juicy fruits such as oranges, apples, grapes, grapefruit, peaches,pears, pineappleand melon. Thereafter, he may gradually adopt a well- balanced diet, according to his age. The emphasis should be on whole grain cereals, raw or lightly-cooked vegetables, and fresh fruits. The diet should include a moderate form of milk, preferably goat’s milk and milk products such as curd,butter and homemade cottage cheese.

The diet should eliminate completely all animal proteins, except milk, as they not only lack in magnesium but also rob the body of its own magnesium storage as well as of vitamin B6. Both these substances are needed in large amounts by the epileptics. Best food sources of magnesium are raw nuts, seeds, soyabeans, green leafy vegetables such as spinach, and beet roots. The patient should avoid all reined foods, fried and greasy foods, sugar and products made with it, strong tea, coffee, condiments and pickles. He should avoid over-eating and take frequent small meals, rather than a few large ones. He should not eat large meals before gong to bed.

Certain home remedies have been found beneficial in the treatment of epilepsy. The most important of these is the use of grape juice. The child should take about 250 ml. of the juice of fresh grapes thrice a day for three months. It will provide immense relief and help in the cure of the disease. Certain vegetable juices , especially carrot juice in combination with juices of beats and cucumber have also been found valuable in epilepsy. Formula proportions considered helpful in this combination are 150 ml. of carrot juice and 50 ml.each of beet and cucumber juices to prepare 250 ml. of combined juices.

Vitamin B6 or pyridoxine is considered useful in epilepsy. This vitamin is involved in critical functions of the nervous system. The valuable vegetable sources of this vitamin are milk, brewer’s yeast, cereals, legumes, green leafy vegetables, carrots and peanuts.

The herb brahmi booti, botanically known as Herpesties monniera has been found valuable in epilepsy. Half a teaspoon of the juice of this plant, sweetened with equal quantity of honey, should be given to the patient thrice daily. The herb Indian spikenart is also considered useful in epilepsy. It soothes the nervous system and induces tranquility of the mind. It should be given in very small doses of half a gram each.

The herb valerian has acquired great reputation in recent years as a cure for epilepsy. It has been used traditionally in functional disturbances of nervous system. The drug exercises depressant action on the central nervous system. An infusion, prepared by infusing 15 grms of the herb in 250 ml. of boiling water, should be taken in small quantities thrice daily.

Mud packs applied to the abdomen twice daily help remove toaxamic conditions of the intestines and thereby hasten improvement of epileptic conditions. The application of alternate hot and cold compresses to the base of the brain , that is at the back of the head will be beneficial. The procedure is to dip the feet in a bucket of hot water and apply first a hot towel and then a cold one to the base of the brain. The alternate hot and cold towels should be kept for two or three minutes four times. The process should be repeated twice every day.

If the sufferer from epilepsy has taken strong drugs for many years, he should not leave off entirely all at once. The dosage may be cut down to half to begin with and then gradually reduced further until it can be left off completely.

The epileptic child should be encouraged to lead as normal a life as possible but some activities are unacceptably risky like swimming and driving vehicle and should be avoided. Thus for instance, bicycle riding on the main road may be fatal if the child has a convulsion. Similarly, unsupervised swimming should be prohibited. The child should be allowed to undertake certain activities, which involve considerable risk, only in the presence of a responsible adult.

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