Question
My son is 11 years old and has been suffering from epilepsy for 2 years. His condition is currently stable, and his academic performance is good. However, someone said that epilepsy can lead to a decline in intelligence. Is this true?
Answer
The cognitive function changes in epilepsy patients are usually not obvious, but a decline in intelligence may be due to brain damage or other factors. During abnormal brain electrical activity, memory difficulties may occur. Additionally, long-term use of barbiturate and phenytoin antiepileptic drugs may also affect cognitive function. Therefore, if there is a progressive decline in cognitive function observed in patients, doctors should carefully examine to rule out the possibility of some progressive brain disease, drug poisoning, and recurrent non-convulsive epilepsy persistent states. As for the learning difficulties experienced by some epileptic children, in addition to the above factors, it is also closely related to their social adaptation difficulties caused by certain discrimination they face during learning.