Neurological disorders affect individuals of all ages and can cause complications that can negatively influence the physical and emotional functioning of patients with these conditions. As such, these disorders can adversely affect the lives of these individuals, which necessitates effective management of conditions and any complications that might arise in the course of the disease. The advanced practice nurse responsible for the patient’s care should examine the medical history and the patient factors and choose the best course of treatment for positive patient outcomes. The paper examines seizure disorders and the types of medications prescribed to patients with this condition and explores the impact of patient factors on the type of drugs prescribed.
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Seizures can affect individuals regardless of their age with the etiology of the condition varying depending on the age of the affected person (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). Effective treatment of seizures requires an accurate diagnosis that, in turn, provides an advanced practice nurse with the information required to make a decision on whether to initiate pharmacotherapy or withhold it. It also influences the types of medications a health practitioner prescribes to the patient. Drug therapy for patients who have seizures aims to minimize their frequency (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). It implies that individuals with seizures have to continually take medications for better management of the frequency of occurrence. The selection of the best antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy allows patients to lead normal lives and prevent any adverse effects attributed to long-term drug therapy (Goldenberg, 2010). The AED selected depends on the type of seizure, age, and sex of a particular patient. As Adamolekun (2016) noted, there is no single medication that is capable of managing various types of seizures diagnosed in patients. It is common for patients to require different medications, depending on their individual factors and response to the first drug therapy prescribed to manage seizures.
Some drugs recommended for the management of seizures include hydantoins and fosphenytoin. Phenytoin or Dilantin is a common drug that is capable of treating several kinds of seizures. It is often regarded as a first-line drug in the management of seizures. Cerebyx is another drug recommended for managing generalized convulsive status epilepticus in the absence of phenytoin or when the first-line drug is considered less advantageous (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). Other AEDs include tiagabine, carbamazepine, Topamax, valproic acid, primidone, oxcarbazepine, and Neurontin.
In managing seizures, some factors might impact the effects of prescribed drugs; therefore, there are various measures that the nurse may take to reduce negative side effects. For example, for a Chinese female patient aged 70 with cardiovascular disease, the prescribed drugs selected may change taking into account the influence of patient factors on adverse effects of the prescribed drug therapy. As Alomar (2014) stated, age influences the incidence of adverse drug reactions with greater susceptibility occurring in older adults and children as compared to people of other ages. It also affects dosage requirements, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacokinetics. The age of the patient might also impact the pharmacological effects of the AEDs, taking into account that age influences drug absorption, distribution, and excretion. As a result, drug toxicity may result in adverse drug reactions. The Chinese ancestry might influence the use of carbamazepine because of the increased likelihood of developing severe rashes when the drug is employed in therapy (St Louis, Ficker, & O’Brien, 2015). The rashes develop due to the presence of the specific allele in people of Southeast Asian descent. The cardiovascular disease might also limit the dosage applied, especially when utilizing phenytoin as a monotherapy. It is recommended to limit the maximum dosage in patients with cardiovascular disease to about 25mg/minute (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). The measures that can reduce the negative side effects include the adoption of monotherapy. Ko (2016) asserted that monotherapy is appropriate because it minimizes instances of adverse effects and limits the occurrence of drug interactions. It is also encouraged that dosage is adjusted according to the tolerance of the patient to a specific drug (Adamolekun, 2016). Another measure for dealing with negative side effects involves changing the selected drug therapy or increasing dosage gradually when there is no response to therapy.
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In conclusion, neurological disorders require effective management to allow patients to lead normal lives. Seizures, in particular, require drug therapy to manage the frequency of the episodes. AEDs allow for better disease management. However, it is imperative for advanced practice nurses to tune the drug therapy depending on patient factors for better outcomes and reduced cases of adverse effects.
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