There is currently no cure for epilepsy, but there are ways to keep seizures under control.
Treatment for seizures is normally anti-epileptic medication, which does not cure epilepsy or the tendency to have seizures but usually does help control the seizure activity. For the people on these drugs, seizures are eliminated in about 50% of cases. Drugs reduce the frequency and/or intensity of seizures in another 30%. The remaining 20% of people have seizures that can not be brought under control by conventional drug therapy. They may require large doses or more than one drug, or they may be drug-resistant.
In the future, epilepsy may be treated by new forms of electronic stimulation of the brain, implanted devices to deliver medication directly to areas of the brain from which seizures arise, gene therapy, and transplants of immature brain cells to replace damaged or missing neurons.
