Treatment
Treatment for encephalitis lethargica in the early stages is patient stabilization, which may be very difficult. There is little evidence so far of a consistent effective treatment for the initial stages, though some patients given steroids have seen improvement. Other patients have been less fortunate, and the disease then becomes progressive, with evidence of brain damage similar to Parkinson's disease. Treatment is then symptomatic. Levodopa (-DOPA) and other anti-parkinson drugs often produce dramatic responses. However, in most of the patients who were given -DOPA in the 1960s, the amelioration of the disease was short lived.
The course of encephalitis lethargica varies depending upon complications or accompanying disorders.
The drug Zolpidem, commonly used as a sleeping pill, has been reported to be successful at treating encephalitis lethargica.
Read more about this topic: Encephalitis Lethargica
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