This much we don't know

Yesterday while writing a brief for a new anti-epilepsy drug I posted a few status updates on Facebook stating that I was finding it rather difficult to come up with a proposition. I was astounded at how many people commented on the update and how many - admittedly in a humorous way - felt that the answer should be quite simple.

Along the lines of 'this drug stops epilepsy and all the shit that goes with it'.

That would indeed have been an ideal proposition if it weren't for the facts that:

- epilepsy is the tendency of the brain to produce sudden bursts of electrical energy - but this can be caused by many different things including tumours, accidents, birth defects and infections;

- there are dozens of enti-epilepsy drugs out on the market, yet around 30% of people with epilepsy are yet to find a treatment that stops their seizures;

- some of the drugs on the market seem to work, but no-one's quite sure why or how;

- even the 'best' drugs on the market can't really claim to be efficacious in more than about 50% of patients.

I was amazed at how little we still don't know, and how that in turn makes it very difficult to come up with something useful and interesting to say that actually holds up to scrutiny.