It is one of the most common neurological diseases in the world and we have known it for millennia now, but we still cannot cure it, not in all patients at least, not as we would like and could. Indeed, the World Health Organization estimates that about 70% of patients could live without crisis if properly diagnosed and treated. But alongside the problem of treatments that don’t reach everyone, there is also the problem of drug resistance: not all patients respond to treatments. For them today in Italy a new treatment is available: the cenobamate, indicated for focal-onset seizures in adults with drug-resistant epilepsy. A problem that is estimated to affect about 30% of people with epilepsy.
30% of patients
“In the treatment of epilepsies, to date, there is a share of patients who are still drug resistant. This means that the seizures are not controlled by the therapy and, consequently, the quality of life of these people is severely affected by the disease”, he said. commented Laura Tassi, President of LICE, the Italian League against Epilepsy. But the Lice itself explains how the condition of drug resistance – which is spoken of when the crises continue despite having tried two different drugs – should not always be considered definitive. New drugs, new combinations – in addition to the possibility, for some patients, to undergo surgery and alternative therapies, such as neurostimulation techniques – could in fact allow to curb crises. “Having a new drug available as a cenobamate means offering patients an additional treatment option that, through crisis control, significantly improves the quality of life, allowing them to keep symptoms under control and thus have adequate social activity. , which includes, for example, being able to drive a car “, continues Tassi.
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Involuntary movements and loss of consciousness
Epilepsy is a disease caused by the abnormal electrical activity of neurons in the brain that is accompanied by involuntary movements and can lead to loss of consciousness. When we talk about focal (or partial) onset epilepsy we refer to the type of disease in which the abnormal electrical activity affects only one part of the brain (unlike the generalized forms, in which the anomalies are observed in several parts in both hemispheres), and is the most common form of the disease.
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Help for neurons
Since the disease alters the electrical activity of neurons, drug treatments try to modulate it, and the cenobamate does this in two different ways, as he explained. Oriano Mecarelli, Past President of LICE, Italian League against Epilepsy: “Cenobamate is a new anti-crisis active ingredient that has a unique mechanism of action because it is dual and complementary: on the one hand it modulates the non-benzodiazepine GABA receptors, on the other it increases the inactivated state of voltage-gated sodium channels thus reducing excitatory neurotransmission through sodium gated channels “.
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