Definition

Antiepileptic drugs are all drugs used to treat or prevent convulsions, as in epilepsy.

Purpose

Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are designed to modify the structures and processes involved in the development of a seizure, including neurons, ion channels, receptors, glia, and inhibitory or excitatory synapses. These processes are modified to favor inhibition over excitation in order to stop or prevent seizure activity.

Description

The ideal AED would suppress all seizures without causing any unwanted side effects. Unfortunately, the drugs currently used not only fail to control seizure activity in some patients, but frequently cause side effects that range in severity from minimal impairment of the