Medical experts are urgently calling for a national response to epilepsy, a condition that not only affects health but also deeply impacts social and personal lives.
Korea Biomedical Review noted that while epilepsy is treatable, many patients continue to face social stigma, unemployment, and barriers to education and marriage, epilepsy, social stigma, epilepsy treatment.
Professor Lee Seo-young from Myongji Hospital explained, “Although epilepsy is highly treatable, patients are still battling discrimination and serious life limitations.”
Epilepsy affects more than 190,000 people in South Korea and carries a mortality rate up to five times higher than the general population, epilepsy in South Korea, epilepsy mortality rate, neurological disorders.
Professor Lee stressed the urgent need for a national care system and community-based epilepsy management to properly support patients.
The 2025 Myongji Hospital Brain and Nerve Fusion Symposium brought together global experts to discuss better treatments and share new developments in epilepsy care, epilepsy care, epilepsy symposium, epilepsy research.
Professor Lee Byung-in, who chaired the event, has played a key role in improving epilepsy care in Korea.
Professor Lee Ki-hyeong from AdventHealth in Orlando explained, “Thirty percent of people with epilepsy have drug-resistant cases and need advanced options like gene therapy, neuromodulation, or cell-based treatments.”
He introduced NRTX-1001, an innovative cell therapy designed to control seizures by directly injecting inhibitory cells into the brain.
“Epilepsy treatment is now shifting toward precision medicine that focuses on improving life quality and helping patients return to society,” he said.
Professor Phi Ji-hoon from Seoul National University Hospital explained that some tumors causing early seizures are hard to fully remove because MRI scans often miss small ‘satellite lesions.’
He also said that DNET, a rare brain tumor linked to epilepsy, has a seizure-free rate of just 68 percent over ten years, making long-term monitoring and precision imaging essential, DNET, brain tumors, seizure treatment.
Since opening the Lee Byungin Epilepsy Center in 2023, Myongji Hospital has become a key national hub for epilepsy care, epilepsy center, epilepsy hospital, epilepsy treatment in Korea.
Article updated 3 hours ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
