Wolfgang Loscher

Over 12 million people with epilepsy have seizures that cannot be controlled by antiepileptic drugs. The term 'drug-resistance' is used in the epilepsy literature but the definitions proposed differ. This title includes chapters on issues relating to drug-resistance and offers the basis for a consensus on a clinically meaningful definition.

In this book, emphasis is placed on the scientific background leading to the discovery of valproate, and its clinical development into one of the most widely used antiepileptic drugs, a milestone in drug therapy. It reviews the state of the drug, and looks at hypotheses on its mechanisms of action, its metabolism into pharmacologically active metabolites, its unique distribution characteristics, and its various clinical uses.