Contraction And Seizure Essay

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The brain
The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. It produces our every thought, action, memory, feeling and experience of the world. This mass of tissue in our heads has the consistency of butter and weighs approximately 1.4kg. It contains a staggering one hundred billion nerve cells. These nerve cells communicate and connect with each other using tiny electrical impulses and chemical signals. The number and variety of connections these nerve cells make between each other is mind-boggling. Each brain cell can and does connect with thousands or even tens of thousands of other brain cells. These cells in our brains are forming millions of different and new connections every second. The pattern and strength of these connections is constantly changing and it is these …show more content…

A large group of brain cells (neurons) fire synchronously at a much faster rate. A seizure is the result of a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activity involving a large group of brain cells. A seizure can cause a variety of changes and sensations the nature of which depends on the part of the brain involved. Seizures cause a disruption in normal brain cell activity. Typically seizures may result in changes in bodily sensations, awareness, behaviour, thinking or emotions; they may cause muscle spasms, loss of consciousness and seizures (also known as convulsions or fits; Engel and Pedley, 1997).

What is epilepsy?
Under certain circumstances anyone can have a seizure. Seizures last a few seconds to a few minutes. Most are over in less than 3 minutes. Epilepsy is only diagnosed when a person has had several seizures. It can affect anyone regardless of age, race or gender but it is most commonly seen in childhood, adolescence, young adults and the elderly. Epilepsy is a common brain condition affecting 1-2% of the entire population of Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001; JECA 2007).

Causes of

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