The patient says to the nurse, "My doctor said I have epilepsy and need to take medicine for those seizures I had. Do I really need medicine?" What is the best response by the nurse?
1. "Having epilepsy is the same as having a mental illness; the medications are very similar."
2. "You will need medicine for a little while to cure the seizures."
3. "You might not need medicine; you may be controlled by a ketogenic diet."
4. "Yes, you need to take medication on a continual basis to control the seizures."
Correct Answer: 4
Rationale: Epilepsy is a disease where seizures occur on a chronic basis. Once seizures are controlled, patients are continued indefinitely on the antiseizure drug. Epilepsy and associated seizures are not curable with medications. The ketogenic diet is used when seizures cannot be controlled through pharmacotherapy, or when there are unacceptable side effects to the medications. Epilepsy is not a mental illness, although some of the same medications are used to control symptoms of both disorders.
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