In 2000 Andrews and Reiter published two more studies in Seizure. In the first, they treated 11 patients, using identical methods to their previous research. Nine of those 11 patients stopped having seizures. In the second study, Andrews and Reiter treated 44 patients and then charted their progress through 25 months of follow-up.

In that time, the health of those in the study improved dramatically. In the two months before they were treated, the study's patients had 1078 seizures. In the final two months of follow-up, they had 20. Thirty-five of the 44 patients (79.5 percent) stopped having seizures altogether.

  

"Andrews and Reiter's research in this is a significant step forward" in the treatment of seizures, says Steven Schachter, a neurologist at Harvard University and the editor of the medical journal Epilepsy and Behavior. Schachter says he has always believed that "psychological stress does something physical to trigger seizures. And too often that trigger is ignored. Treatment gets reduced to just passing out pills."

  

"Andrews and Reiter are helping to break that trend. They're serious investigators in this field," he says.

Schachter, however, is in the minority in that opinion. The vast majority of America's neurologists do not endorse the psychological approach of Andrews and Reiter. Many, like Dan Lowenstein of the University of California-San Francisco, say it's flat-out absurd.

 
  
 

Psychologist Donna Andrews' research into stress and seizure triggers, done in coordination with Harvard-trained neurologist Joel Reiter, has sparked interest within the medical community.

 

   

 

 

"It's just bogus to say that if you reduce your psychological stress that you'll have fewer seizures," he says. "There's not a specific way to have a person turn off a seizure. With stress and seizures, you just can't make a one-to-one correlation."

  

Lowenstein says he is not familiar with the three Andrews/Reiter studies published in Seizure. Donald Olson, a neurologist at Stanford University, also missed the studies but says he is familiar with the concept behind them.

  

"You have to be skeptical about that kind of stuff," says Olson. "Psychological treatments, they have no side effects. But whether they're effective in stopping seizures, that's still extremely unclear. Are they some great treatment for epilepsy? I don't think so."

  

The resistance of doctors like Lowenstein and Olson show just how far Andrews and Reiter have to go before their psychological techniques gain wide acceptance. Today, 22 years after their first study, one epilepsy facility in America treats seizures with psychology: Andrews and Reiter's.

 

 

 

Their efforts, however, have not been completely in vain. In 1992 Andrews and Reiter were invited to speak before the Epilepsy League in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1999 they presented their findings at the International Epilepsy Conference in Prague , an event attended by 4000 neurologists. Reiter's book, "Epilepsy: A New Approach," has also found an audience. It is now in its third printing.

Still, Andrews and Reiter say they're fighting a lonely battle and question whether it is ultimately a losing one.

  

"It's been a long road," says Andrews, a touch of defeat in her voice. "I'm getting old and my patience is wearing thin. I don't know how long I can keep it up." Reiter is considering retirement within the next three years, and Andrews says she's not sure how she'd continue without him. "For our method to catch on, it's going to take teaching in the medical schools and support from the government."

  

But neither the American government nor American universities have shown any interest in backing Andrews and Reiter's psychological approach. Dr. Bazil says that even if his epilepsy center wanted to offer patients a psychological treatment, few would be able to afford it. Most of his patients, he says, are dependent on medical insurance, and most insurance companies do not cover experimental therapies like Andrews and Reiter's.

Treatment at the Andrews/Reiter epilepsy center costs thousands of dollars. While some insurance carriers do cover medical consultations with Dr. Reiter, patients must pay for the psychological treatment out of pocket, as my family did.

This financial hurdle is one reason why Andrews and Reiter's approach has drawn less interest in the U.S. than in foreign nations with universal health care. Elizabeth Koeningsberg Hospital in Berlin is now conducting a study based on the Andrews/Reiter technique. The Epilepsy Association of Calgary has also been looking into their treatment, as has the Victoria Epilepsy Society in Melbourne, Australia.

  

It's unclear whether these isolated efforts will usher the Andrews/Reiter approach into the mainstream. Andrews doubts they will. Still, she says, even if the majority continues to scoff at her research, she takes comfort in knowing she was able to help many of her patients. After an exhaustive review of 23 years of patient records, Andrews estimates she has treated 2300 epileptics at her Santa Rosa facility. Of those, records indicate, 83 percent are now seizure-free. One-third of her patients are now off medication. Ninety percent have been reduced to the lowest therapeutic dosage.

I am one of those patients. After being granted my license four years ago, I continued to work on the Andrews and Reiter relaxation techniques. I listened to their relaxation tape every night. I saw a psychologist to work out some of my anger issues. In the process, my seizures became more and more infrequent. Until they disappeared.

I had my last seizure Jan. 4, 2003. Under my neurologist's supervision, I am now decreasing my epilepsy medication. I should be off it altogether by the end of the year.

 

For more information on the Andrews-Reiter Research Program, visit their website, www.andrewsreiter.com

You can also contact their Santa Rosa, Calif., research center by email at djandrews@andrewsreiter.com or by phone at (707) 578-8985.

 



 
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