Sadia Noor, Faheem Saeed, Muhammad Adnan Aslam.
Prevalence of Various Myths about Epilepsy among Families of Epileptic patients in Pakistani Society.
J Fatima Jinnah Med Uni Jan ;11(1):12-4.

Objective: To assess the knowledge of the families of epileptic patients regarding the disease and to educate them about the treatment options through modern medicine. Methods: Total 100 families (first-degree relatives) of the epileptic patients were registered in this study during their visit to Neurology OPD from 1 st December 2016 to 28 February 2017. Patients who have one episode and pseudo-seizure were excluded from study. Results: Thirty-two percent of the population believe epilepsy is contagious and is due to black magic. Thirty-nine percent think it is curse of God, while 38% percent think peers (faith healers) can treat patient in a better way than professional doctors. Similarly, 38% think that shoe sniffing will cure the disease while 28% believe in dung sniffing as a cure for the epilepsy. Total 44% of population believe that patient of epilepsy cannot get education and are infertile therefore cannot get married. Conclusion: Various myths are prevalent in the Pakistani society therefore; there is a strong need to educate common people, especially the families of the epileptic patients, about the true causes of epilepsy.

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