A drug previously used for cancer treatment will be used to treat people with epilepsy, which causes recurrent seizures, in a Monash University trial that will run from October.
More than 150,000 Australians have the often debilitating medical condition, with the sodium selenate trial giving new hope to patients like Danielle Heaven.
She, like one-third of those with the neurological disorder who struggle to control their condition with the anti-seizure medication currently available, said the trial could be “life-changing”.
“You have to really weigh up your quality of life and what medications are no longer tolerable,” Heaven said.
Dr Lucy Vivash said the “ground-breaking” new research could soon change that.
“What we are hoping to see is a reduction in the seizures long term, even after the drug has been withdrawn,” she said.
“Despite the cost of the disease and the enormous amount of research into it, there has not been a single therapy developed to prevent the development of epilepsy or to mitigate its severity once established,” head of Monash Neuroscience Professor Terry O’Brien added.
Epilepsy is a life-long condition and Heaven said she’d never thought about the potential to cure her seizures.
”It does give me hope,” she said
“I have actually really never been well.
“The idea of a cure is really something I thought perhaps wouldn’t happen in my lifetime.
“I think the idea of a cure could actually change people’s lives.”
