Seizure relief often takes over 1 year and multiple medications: Study 

A study found that most individuals diagnosed with focal epilepsy take over a year and more than one medication to be free of seizures. 

The study, led by researchers from the U.S. and Australia and published in JAMA Neurology, followed 448 patients ages 12-60 across 34 epilepsy centers in the U.S., Europe and Australia within three years. Researchers found that while nearly 60% of participants were free of seizures, only about 27% achieved that outcome on their first anti-seizure medication, and the median time for seizure freedom was a little over a year. 

Among the 488 patients, 102 individuals were treatment resistant, which was defined as a failure of two or more adequate antiseizure medication trials. In addition, researchers found that participants with infrequent pretreatment seizures were less likely to be treatment resistant, and those with self-reported psychological comorbidities at the time of diagnosis were more likely to be treatment resistant.

Almost two-thirds of patients experienced ongoing or worsening seizures during their first year of treatment, and those with a history of psychiatric disorders were almost twice more likely to become treatment resistant, the study found. 

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