Quality of Life SurveyNew survey data released in New York in March reveal that people with hard-to-control epilepsy experience a poor quality of life, but that many do not proactively pursue new treatments which could help. The survey, sponsored by Cyberonics, was conducted by the Melior Group. It comprised 700 telephone interviews of people with difficult to treat seizures, including 500 interviews of people with epilepsy 18 years of age or older and 200 interviews of caregivers of children 12 to 17 who have been diagnosed with epilepsy. Each interview included questions about treatment options, quality of life, doctor-patient relationships, and the impact of epilepsy and its treatment on work, home and social life.
The
Quality of Life in Epilepsy survey reveals that people with epilepsy are three times more likely to be unemployed than the national average in the USA. Almost half of these people experience depression and believe that epilepsy has reduced their daily activities and their personal and professional goals for the future. Three-quarters of the people living with epilepsy who were surveyed strongly believe that even modest improvements in seizure control would significantly improve their daily lives but only one-third of them regularly ask their doctor if new or alternative treatments are available.
Seizure Control vs Number of AEDsOnly 25% of the survey participants have been seizure-free for the past year; the remaining 75% experience an average of 70 seizures each year.
According to an earlier study by Dr. Patrick Kwan and Dr. Martin J. Brodie (published in the New England Journal of Medicine), 36% of people with epilepsy have inadequate control of seizures with anti-seizure medications (AEDs), resulting in substantial deleterious effects on individual health and quality of life and a heavy burden on society. These patients are considered refractory and are in need of another therapy besides medication to gain seizure control. That study concludes that after 2 failed drug attempts, the likelihood of another drug succeeding is only 4%.
The survey discovered that 65% of people with refractory epilepsy have tried between 2 and 5 medications, while an additional 25% of patients have tried between 6 and 10 AEDs. Moreover, 50% currently experience side effects associated with their medications and find these side effects extremely frustrating. Managing epilepsy has to be a balance between controlling seizures and the number of medications each person is taking and their side effects.
"While many people with epilepsy gain good control with currently available medications, this study underscores the
Epilepsy Foundation's (USA) view that people with epilepsy, especially those whose seizures are hard to control, need to have access to current information about all appropriate treatment options," said Eric R Hargis, President and CEO of the Epilepsy Foundation.
The Ideal Treatment
75% of the survey participants would be very interested in learning about new treatment options and finding ways to reduce the number of medications they take, according to this survey. Furthermore, approximately 80% of the participants would consider changing their current treatment if their doctor told them about a new treatment which might maintain their current level of seizure control without the negative side effects.
About VNS Therapy
VNS with the Cyberonics NCP® System was approved in 1997 for use as an adjunctive therapy in reducing the frequency of seizures in adults and adolescents over 12 years of age with medically refractory partial onset seizures. In addition, the NCP System is currently approved for epilepsy in all the member countries of the European Union, Canada, and Australia. VNS with the Cyberonics NCP System is also approved for sale in the European Union and in Canada as a depression treatment in patients with treatment-resistant or treatment-intolerant major depressive episodes including unipolar depression and bipolar disorder (manic depression).
Cyberonics, Inc. CYBX was founded in 1987 to help improve the lives of people touched by epilepsy, depression and other chronic disorders that may prove to be treatable with VNS. Cyberonics is headquartered in Houston, Texas, USA, with an office in Belgium.
For Additional Information
http://www.cyberonics.com
or the Canadian distributor
http://www.xycorpmed.com
