Epilepsy in children: book recs please?

[media_res]

One of the main characters in my sci-fi novel is a nine year old girl with a diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy. I'm gearing into heavy research mode, and I'm looking for reading material--books, especially, but also articles that might be available online. (What I wouldn't give to be back in college and have J-STOR at my fingertips--alas.) I'm

Comments

[deepbluemermaid]

I had a quick look at the Amazon.com category of books about epilepsy. These are just the most promising ones from the first two pages of results

[dreadnought]

If there's an article you think would be really helpful, but you can't access it, PM me and I'll try my hand. I have access to a lot of databases (including Jstor, of course) through my university library.

[twoshadows]

My husband had childhood epilepsy (not sure if it was temporal lobe) with hallucinations. He said it feels real, but you know it's not. (For example, he didn't actually think there was a giant lobster thing in the room, but it looked real and was scary).

[lyonesse]

it really depends on the individual patient's seizure structure. which means you have a fair amount of leeway

[lyonesse]

oh -- and treatment-and-prognosis-wise, there are quite a few anti-seizure drugs marketed today, such as neurontin and lyrica. most people's seizures can be controlled with medication. for those whose cannot, an old-fashioned treatment is the ketogenic diet (especially for children, who may outgrow their seizures) -- lots of fats, low carbs. there's also neurosurgery to remove the focal points from which the seizures start.