Neurologic Illness

Patients with neurological illness often have both diminished Quality Of Life (QOL) and diminished feelings of Well Being (WB) because of both the underlying disease, and the adverse effects of medications, especially Antiepileptic Drugs (AED’s). As many neurologic illnesses are controlled but not cured by medications, it is important to optimize both the patient’s physical symptoms and their overall quality of life (QOL). This is especially true because of the high psychiatric co-morbidities in patients with neurologic illness. This is exemplified in the case of epilepsy where it is important to balance control of its objective manifestations, such as seizure frequency and seizure severity, against the adverse effects that anti-epileptic drugs (AED) have on QOL. These adverse effects are thought to include not only physical side effects such as ataxia, nausea, etc. but also psychiatric changes such as depression and an increased risk for suicide. This accentuates the need measure and monitor QOL in neurologic patients. As clinicians in the neurology clinic strive to improve the QOL of their patients as well as detect the possible comorbidities that have been associated with both neurological disorders, and their treatment it is important to take into account the WB of the patient. In order to do this numerous surveys have been formulated to assess QOL.

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Last date updated on April, 2024