Participants at the fourth Gulf Neurosurgical Society Congress at St Regis Hotel yesterday. RIGHT: Ghanem Al Sulaiti, Chairman of the Congress, and Dr Sabah Al Kadhi of HMC, touring the exhibition. Shaival Dalal
DOHA: The Neurosurgery Department at the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) will soon begin to treat patients with Epilepsy by surgical intervention, said a senior official yesterday.
Epilepsy is a common problem in Qatar and the social stigma prevents many form seeking medical advice, said Dr Ghanem Al Sulaiti, Consultant, Neurosurgeon and head of HMC’s Neurosurgery Department.
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the fourth Gulf Neurological Society Congress being held at the St Regis hotel.
“We will focus on Epilepsy on medical and also surgical treatment,” he said.
“Epilepsy is about one in ten people in the world and 20 percent may not respond to treatment with medication and need surgical intervention,” he added.
Epilepsy is a common and diverse set of chronic neurological disorders. It is a paroxysmal behavioural spell generally caused by an excessive disorderly discharge of cortical nerve cells of the brain.
Dr Al Sulaiti explained that the social stigma prevents many people from seeking medical advice for Epilepsy a chronic disease, which could even cause death.
“Epilepsy is very common and stigma in the community is also high, there is lots of misunderstandings, some don’t consider it as a disease, and don’t seek medical advice but unfortunately epilepsy can even kill the person,” said Dr Al Sulaiti.
“People don’t understand that it’s like any other chronic disease which needs medical attention,” he added.
Dr Al Sulaiti also said that traumatic brain and spinal code injuries are very high due to road traffic and construction site accidents.
More than 250 neurological specialists from countries like Canada, UK, USA, France, with experts from the region and Qatar discuss about the latest advancements in their field during the three-day Gulf Neurological Society Congress.
“The congress will address the latest developments in several neurosurgery related issues, including spine surgeries, trauma surgeries, neurological diseases, rehabilitation and physiotherapy,” said Dr Al Sulaiti.
“In particular we will present our experience in stereotactic radio-surgeries (a foam of radiation therapy that focuses high power energy on a small area of the body) undertaken by teams at HMC over past two years. This congress will support the development of our knowledge of neurosurgery, as it offers a unique opportunity to share experiences with world renowned experts.”
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