Treat Encephalitis
Encephalitis is a serious condition marked by inflammation of the brain. Usually caused by a bacterial or viral infection, such as meningitis or rabies, encephalitis is a medical emergency. Medical care should be sought immediately if its symptoms occur. Read on to learn treat encephalitis.
Instructions
1. Recognize the symptoms of encephalitis. A mild case may have no symptoms at all or just mild symptoms, such as headache and irritability. A serious case may involve drowsiness, fever, severe headache, nausea, vomiting, confusion and a stiff neck. In severe cases, the above symptoms will progress into delirium.
2. Understand that, while you should always seek medical advice for encephalitis, your body's own immune system will usually suffice to fight off a minor case of the disease. Treat your pain using over-the-counter pain relievers, get plenty of rest, increase your fluid intake and maintain a healthy diet, as directed by your doctor.
3. Use anti-inflammatory drugs, as prescribed by your physician, to treat the pressure and the swelling that is pressing on your skull and causing the severe headache symptoms. Seizures might accompany a serious case of encephalitis and might be treated using anticonvulsants.
4. Know that encephalitis caused by viral sources may be much more difficult to treat, as viruses are not responsive to the medicines used to fight bacterial forms of encephalitis. In such cases, the prognosis is often grave, though antiviral drugs sometimes result in favorable outcomes.
5. Keep in mind that severe cases of encephalitis can leave patients with lingering physical and cognitive disabilities. Physical and/or speech therapy may be required to help the patient recover her range of movement and command over her speech faculties.
6. Understand that while early medical intervention usually leads to a good prognosis, life-threatening cases of encephalitis, in which death was averted, may still leave permanent damage. Patients may suffer permanent paralysis, hearing and vision impairments and memory loss.
7. Learn more about encephalitis, its causes, treatments and ways to avoid it by reading the comprehensive discussion of the condition on the Mayo Clinic website encephalitis page. See the Resources section below for a link.
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