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Causes of epilepsy essay
Seizures research statement
Seizures research statement
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The brain is a beautiful, hardworking, miraculous muscle in our body that works in way that we still cannot understand. The definition of epilepsy is “a central nervous system disorder( neurological disorder) in which the nerve cell activity in your brain is disturbed, causing a seizure during which you experience abnormal behavior, symptoms and sensations, including loss of consciousness” (Mayo clinic, 2013). Epilepsy is a general term for someone who has had two or more seizures. The most common cause of epilepsy usually involves some sort of injury to the brain. Epilepsy is a life threatening disease. The effect that each seizure has on the brain depends on the location in the brain, the extent of reach it has in the tissue, and the length of the seizure. A seizure is considered to be anything that disrupts the natural circuit of the brain. When a seizure happens, the brains neurons fire uncontrollably, causing the brain to make the body jerk, abruptly fall, or have distorted vision. The normal electrical balance in the brain is lost, the nerve cells misfire, and there is a sudden, brief, uncontrollable burst of abnormal electrical activity. This causes out of sync signals from the brain to misfire (Sahoo, 2014). There are over 3 million people who suffer from epilepsy in the United States alone, with most of them being diagnosed by the time they are twenty-five years old.( Epilepsy Foundation, 2014). More interesting than the seizures and epilepsy itself, are the effects that it has on the brain and the emotional side effects from continuous seizures and the medication that is given to maintain stabilization in the brain. In high school a friend of mine hung herself; she was diagnosed with epilepsy after her second seiz... ... middle of paper ... ...the connection with epilepsy and emotional distress behind is does not look like there is an answer in the near future. Most patients have a choice between being on medication and watched closely with intense therapy, or continuing with the risk of seizures. Neither one leads to a normal life, but then again there is nothing normal about epilepsy. New medications in the future may be the answer, or more advanced surgeries. Finding the exact cause of epilepsy in the brain before a seizure happens would be the most effective thing. Preventing a seizure from happening and having the resulting damage is the logical explanation. Only time will tell with advancements in research and finding an answer to stopping it. Though modern medicine has made leaps and bounds to prevent and lessen the extremes of seizures, there has been no medical miracle to stop them completely
Unlike Naomi, Eric does not respond to drug therapy. Therefore, instead of a drug therapy, Eric receives the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) or brain stimulation often an effective treatment for patients like Eric with severe depression who does not respond to a drug therapy. By shocking the brain, the ECT manipulates the brain’s chemical imbalance produced by the social-cultural stress experience. But after eleven ECTs in a month, Eric cannot function because of the temporary side effects of memory loss and confusion affecting his concentration to play the viola and his well-being. Then after four months of receiving ECT treatment, Eric returns to normal social functioning as a musician. Six months later, Eric is still playing the viola and has had no recurrence of his
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a treatment for severe mental illness in which the brain is stimulated with a strong electrical current which induces a seizure. The seizure rearranges the brain's neurochemistry and results in an elevation of mood. This essay asks: Is ECT any safer and more effective in treating mood disorders than drug therapies? This treatment has a controversial history ever since it was first introduced in 1938. I intend to argue that electroconvulsive therapy is indeed a safe treatment of mental disorders when other treatments have failed. Due to the development of safer and less traumatic ways of administering ECT, the treatment has made a comeback, is greatly used, and proves to be effective.
Currently, there is a lack of studies in regards to whether or not this therapy causes significant damage to the brain. Correspondingly, there is little research done in regards to how great relapse rates are and how long the treatment can truly last. Consequently, many people have abstained from receiving treatment to avoid any possibility of impairment or reversion. However, it has not been denied nor confirmed that ECT directly causes the aforementioned results. Moreover, many theories created to downplay electroconvulsive therapy’s effectiveness are being brought back into the spotlight, including one that attributes ECT’s success to brain damage. Breggin states, “More recently [Harold] Sackeim and Sackeim with a team of colleagues have covertly revived the principle that a therapeutic response depends upon the degree of brain damage and dysfunction” (par. 17). Although this theory was made to discredit ECT, there has been no research done to disprove its accuracy. Furthermore, because of a lack of research, when a new study such as this comes out, many people believe it right away no matter how erroneous it may actually be. More research on ECT is desperately needed to see if these theories are factual or not. As a result of these truths or fallacies, the therapy can be improved upon
Several strides have been made in the medical field in regards to electroconvulsive therapy. The treatment is defined as “a medical procedure in which a brief electrical stimulus is used to induce a cerebral seizure under controlled conditions” (Enns, Reiss & Chan, 2010). It is used for a handful of mental illnesses, such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, but when it was introduced in 1938 by Ugo Cerletti and Lucio Bin, its main use was to treat schizophrenia (Enns, Reiss & Chan, 2010). ECT can indeed be effective for schizophrenia, but the best results are when the “… duration of [the] illness is relatively brief or when catatonic or affective symptoms are prominent” (Enns, Reiss & Chan, 2010). Unlike schizophrenia, the best results from ECT have come from treatments with patients who have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder and alternative methods are no longer working...
Epilepsy, also known as “seizure disorder,” or “seizure attack,” is the fourth most common neurological disorder known to mankind, affecting an estimated 2.3 million adults and 467,711 children in the United States. Unfortunately this disorder is becoming far more common and widespread worldwide. This staggering number of cases of people suffering from Epilepsy also involves an average growth rate of 150,000 new cases each year in the United States alone. Generally, many of the people who develop who are a part of the new are mainly either young children or older adults. Your brain communicates through chemical and electrical signals that are all specialized for specific tasks. However, through the process of communication, chemical messengers, also known as neurotransmitters can suddenly fail, resulting in what is known as a seizure attack. Epilepsy occurs when a few too many brain cells become excited, or activated simultaneously, so that the brain cannot function properly and to it’s highest potential. Epilepsy is characterized when there is an abnormal imbalance in the chemical activity of the brain, leading to a disruption in the electrical activity of the brain. This disruption specifically occurs in the central nervous system (CNS), which is the part of the nervous system that contains the brain and spinal cord. This causes an interruption in communication between presynaptic neurons and postsynaptic neurons; between the axon of one neuron, the message sender and the dendrite of another neuron, the message recipient. Consequently, the effects that epileptic seizures may induce may range anywhere from mild to severe, life-threatening ramifications and complications. There are many different types of seizures associa...
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the brain causing people to have seizures. A seizure is a big disruption of electrical communication between neurons, leading to the temporary release of excessive energy in a synchronized form Epilepsy is very unpredictable. Having a seizure disorder doesn't mean that you can only have one type of seizure. People can have many different types of seizures; it can vary on the person. In some cases depending on the type of seizures someone may have they can grow out of them. (“Epilepsy Foundation." What Is Epilepsy? N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2014.)
Epilepsy, also called seizure disorder, chronic brain disorder that briefly interrupts the normal electrical activity of the brain to cause seizures, characterized by a variety of symptoms including uncontrolled movements of the body, disorientation or confusion, sudden fear, or loss of consciousness. Epilepsy may result from a head injury, stroke, brain tumor, lead poisoning, genetic conditions, or severe infections like meningitis or encephalitis. In over 70 percent of cases no cause for epilepsy were identified. About 1 percent of the world population, or over 2 million people, are diagnosed with epilepsy.
Many people with epilepsy usually have more than one type of seizure and may have other symptoms of neurological problems as well. The cause of epilepsy varies by age of the person, but the majority of the time the cause is unknown. Common causes of seizures by age in Elizabeth Otte’s case would be congenital conditions (Down’s syndrome; Angelman's syndrome; tuberous sclerosis and neurofibromatosis), genetics, head trauma, and progressive brain disease which is rare (Schechter & Shafer, Ltd., 2013, p.1). The diagnosis of epilepsy is based on medical history of the patients including family history of seizures. They ask several of questions to figure of what type of seizures the patients could possibly be suffering from. Doctors then preform test such as EEG, take blood, and study images of your brain. Epilepsy is treated by a neurologist specialist that may or may not subscribe medication depending on the severity and frequency of the seizures. Also treatment can be a change in the patients’ diet or
Later, the doctors told me I had epilepsy, specifically the type known as grand mal. Immediately, the doctors put me on some medications to prevent the seizures. They also gave my parents a bunch of packets of information about epilepsy. When I got older, some of those packets informed me that 20-25 million people have suffered from an epileptic seizure. Many people grow out of childhood epilepsy or they take medicine to control it. However, there is still a risk of having a seizure even if you take medication. Over the past few years, I have become increasingly aware of the chance of a seizure at any time.
Epilepsy is a neurological condition that affects the nervous system. Epilepsy can affect people in multiple different ways. There are many different seizures that you can get from epilepsy. Seizures are classified in two different groups, generalized seizures and focal seizures. Generalized seizures affect both sides of the brain, focal seizures only affect one side of the brain. Generalized seizures include absence seizures which can sometimes cause rapid blinking or staring at random places. Also tonic-clonic seizures
For the purpose of this assignment the experience of attending Electro-Convulsive Therapy will be discussed. It will include rationale for the procedure, an account of the procedure and the student nurses reflection on the experience using Gibbs’ model of reflection (Jasper 2003). Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a medical treatment for severe mental illness in which a small, carefully controlled amount of electricity is introduced into the brain. This electrical stimulation, used in conjunction with anaesthesia and muscle relaxant medications, produces a mild generalised seizure or convulsion (Mankad et al 2010).
The health topic I’m covering today is epilepsy which is a neurological disorder that is caused by excessive or abnormal activity in the neural areas of the brain. Epilepsy causes a series of seizures and it does not discriminate when it comes to the person, age, or race. This disease can have a major effect on a person by interrupting their daily lives and health. In ancient times there was very little knowledge about epilepsy.
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder marked by sudden recurrent episodes of convulsions and sometimes associated with loss of consciousness. Four years ago, I decided to take my girls to Cameroon (country located in Central Africa) where I was born and raised. just after the landing, the lady who was sitting right in front of us with a child (approximately 2 years old) started screaming HELP, HELP. At the minute I looked at that child, I figured out that there was something going on with him. The mother was hysterical seeing her little one going through all these jerking movements. And I said to myself what next? It was my first time experiencing something like that. I went and grabbed the child, took him to the nearest exit door (to
An epileptic seizure is a brief episode of signs and/or symptoms due to abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain also know as brain discharge. Photosensitive epilepsy is the name for seizures triggered by information processed by the eyes. This is when seizures are triggered by certain rates of flashing lights or contrasting light or dark patterns. This information all passes through the eye into a part of the brain called the visual cortex. The visual cortex then sorts out the images received by the eye In photosensitive epilepsy, genetics plays an enormous role. About one in one-hundred people in the U.S. have epilepsy. About 3% to 5% of those people have photosensitive epilepsy. Children and adolescents ages 7 to 19 are more likely to have photosensitive epilepsy. The common rates at which can trigger triggers seizures are from 3-30 hertz (flashes per seconds), but it all depends on the individual’s tolerance. While some people are sensitive at up to 60
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder targeted at the central nervous system. Nerve cell activity in the brain is disrupted thus causing seizures and/or abnormal behavior. Symptoms are different from person to person, some stare off for a few seconds while others may have twitching sensations. 1 in 26 people in the US may develop a seizure disorder in their life. Eplipsy can cause temporary confusion, staring, uncontrollable involuntary movement, loss of awareness, and psychic symptoms. There are many possible causes for epilepsy: genetic, head injury, brain conditions, infectious diseases, developmental, and prenatal injury.