Q&A With Carl Bazil, MD, PhD, FAAN of Columbia University: Finding Alternative Treatments for Epilepsy

For many patients medication and surgery can be enough to help them maintain their health and control epileptic seizures. Work is also being done in the field to find alternative therapies including medical marijuana and seizure predicting devices.

Carl Bazil, MD, PhD, FAAN, from Columbia University discussed what some of these options might be and which are not proven during the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting in Washington DC. Bazil said that while some people believe options like medical marijuana could help the condition there has not been enough proof to show that there is a proper dosage or system to give to patients who need it most. Some devices also need more work before they can be a reliable system for patients.