Antiepileptic Medicinal Plants

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterised by recurrent and spontaneous seizures. Millions of people worldwide struggle with epilepsy. There is no radical treatment for epilepsy. Current treatments are symptomatic and approximately one third of the patients show resistance to existing drugs. The majority of epilepsy patients live in countries with low socioeconomic status. It is very difficult for these patients to access adequate medical treatment. Problems such as drug-related side effects, lack of access to medication and drug resistance are common in epilepsy patients. For this reason, many researchers are trying to discover new compounds with antiepileptic properties for the treatment of epilepsy. The epileptogenic mechanism has not been solved yet. Currently used antiepileptic drugs are symptomatic and do not provide radical treatment. Modern antiepileptic drugs reduce seizure frequency but do not show antiepileptogenic properties. Experimental studies indicate that herbal compounds may show antiepileptogenic properties. In the literature on this subject, it is seen that there are many natural plants that have been studied. It is stated that antiepileptic drugs can potentially be developed from these. Based on these reasons, I aimed to explain the herbal compounds showing antiepileptic properties in the light of the literature.