Epilepsy cases increase in Western Region

Ms. Nelly Mensah, a Registered Mental Health Nurse at the Psychiatric Department of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital says the facility continued to record high cases of epilepsy.

She said in 2020 for instance,  the hospital recorded 506 cases out of 2,006 patients screened with 204 males and 302 females.

Ms Mensah said other conditions of concern included; Schizophrenia, Delirium and Depression.

She explained that epilepsy was a chronic disorder that caused unprovoked and recurrent seizures due to some irregular activities in the brains.

Ms Mensah stated that epilepsy was a fairly common neurological disorder that affected 65 million people around the world with several factors such as high fever, head trauma, low blood sugar and alcohol withdrawal causing the seizures.

She mentioned commonly reported triggers as the, lack of sleep, illness or fever, stress, bright lights, caffeine, alcohol, medicines, or drugs, and skipping meals, overeating and allergy to specific food ingredients.

The rest are unusual sights, smells and sounds.

Source: GNA