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... ... middle of paper ... ...ives to treating Epilepsy and its effects. Typically most doctors will prefer to keep the medicinal treatment as natural as possible. Although not many people have seizure alert dogs, they are out there and available as an alternative. However, if one’s Epileptic seizures are interrupting one’s normal day to day life activities that one partakes in, antiepileptic drugs may be the next step towards Epilepsy management. I have found through research that a corpus colostomy surgical procedure is only performed in severe cases of Epileptic seizures, and is only done as a last step towards treatment. All in all, I have come to find that Epilepsy can be treated and or controlled through the use of these resources. Nonetheless, as with many treatments used to treat Epilepsy, there are positive outcomes as well as possible consequences affiliated with these treatments.
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
SUMMARIZE: The article focuses on studies related to anesthesia which were conducted on dogs by researchers. Topics discussed include Arthur Guedel anesthetizing a dog using tracheal tube and cocaine crystals numbing cornea. It also goes on to talk about the numbing of Nazi dogs by Jews using cocaine. Also the use of curare by a surgeon named Mario Jascalevich which resulted in a neuronal cell death. Numerous stories on chemicals tested on animals, preferably dogs and facts were presented. (78
Weiner R. D., & Krystal, A.D. (February 1994). The present use of electroconvulsive therapy. Annual Review of Medicine, 45, 273-281.
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.)
First off, it is important to understand what a seizure is. A seizure is caused by abnormal discharge of electric stimulation in the brain. They may also be caused by salt imbalances in the blood, gastrointestinal disease, poisoning, head injury, brain disease such as a tumor, a malformed blood vessel, or anything that causes sudden lack of oxygen to the brain.((1).) Seizures are also grouped into different categories depending on how severe they are and also depending on which part of the brain is effected. For example, if the entire brain is involved it is a generalized seizure as opposed to if only a portion of the brain is effected and in that case the seizure is a partial seizure. ((2).) There are two types of partial seizures, simple partial and complex partial. There are also two types of generalized seizures, generalized absence (petit mal) and tonic-clonic (grand mal). The seizures that my sister has are tonic-clonic or grand mal, which are considered the most severe type of seizure to have. With a tonic-clonic seizure, there are two phases. In the tonic phase, the person loses consciousness and falls, as the body grows rigid. In the clonic phase, body extremities jerk and twitch. After the seizure, consciousness returns slowly. ((2).)
Each year, U.S emergency departments treat an estimate 173,285 sports and recreation concussions. During the last decade concussions increased by 60%. Fewer than 10% of concussions result in loss of conscious. Most people recover from a single concussion. Multiple concussions take longer to recover from. The concussion Clinic at Nationwide Children’s Hospital utilizes the expertise of pediatric sports medicine, physical medicine, and rehabilitation specialists.
The effects of multiple disabilities are often both multiplicative and interactive. Cerebral Palsy is a disability that originates from damage to the central nervous system, but which is often accompanied by sensory, communication, orthopedic, learning and cognitive abilities. The complex nature of cerebral palsy is related to differences in causation and the nature and degree of motor involvement. In this paper, Cerebral Palsy will be defined and described, followed by discussion of conditions that frequently occur with this disability. A description of the impact of cerebral palsy on physical and communication development will also be discussed.
Epilepsy is a very common neurological disorder. Some reports estimate that five in one-thousand people suffer from this problem. Throughout history, people with epilepsy have been shunned or considered inferior. Even today, ignorance leads many people to treat the epileptic as "abnormal" or "retarded". Although the etiology of epilepsy is still not fully understood, it is quite treatable due to advances in modern medicine.
Not everyone who has a seizure has epilepsy. Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures. Unprovoked means that there is no immediate cause for the seizure, such as a fever, an infection of the brain, or head trauma. Nearly 10 percent of people will have a seizure during their lifetime; most of these are provoked seizures during an acute illness or condition. These people may never have epilepsy. There are two types of seizures people can have. One is partial seizure or focal they begin in one part of the brain. They cause varied symptoms auras which is a funny feeling in your stomach, staring, chewing, lip smacking, shaking, or stiffness in parts of the body. Generalized seizures are when the entire brain is effected. This causes loss consciousness. One type is grand mal is when the body stiffens and jerks. Another type is petit mal, which is momentary loss of consciousness without abnormal body movement. Some factors of this are infections of the brain this includes meningitis, encephalitis, and brain abscess. Strokes are also a risk of epilepsy. Also alcohol can cause seizures for heavy drinkers when they stop drinking abruptly (withdrawal seizures) and also have a good chance of epilepsy. Epilepsy can also cause brain tumors usually they are slow growing and don't affect them for years. Some other factors that cause epilepsy is age the risk of seizures is higher in young children. Also gender epilepsy is higher in males than in females. The most common treatment for epilepsy is the daily use of anticonvulsant or antiepilectic drugs to prevent seizures. These medications act on brain signals to limit hyperexcitability. While medications do not cure epilepsy, they allow many people to live normal, active lives. Other treatments are vagus nerve stimulation this treatment involves electronic stimulation of the brain using an implanted device like a pacemaker. Another is epilepsy surgery this is when a part of the brain that is causing the seizures is removed so that it prevents it from spreading to anther part of the brain.
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.
This source states that women living with epilepsy seem to face different issues than males with epilpesy do. The source states that the two sex hormones inside a woman's body, progesterone and estrogen, play a role in influencing seizures as both of these hormones interact with brain cells. Usually, there are equal amounts of progesterone and estrogen inside a woman's body. However, the problem occurs when the balance of these becomes unequal. It explains that estrogen is an excitatory hormone which basically means that it "makes brain cells give off more of an electrical charge". Prosgesterone, however, is an inhibitory hormone, meaning that it calms the cells - that have been electrically charged by the estrogen - down. The problem arises when the body starts producing more estrogen than progesterone which "can make the nervous system excitable" and can make a woman with epilepsy more exposed to seizures. The source emphasises that a change in hormones don't cause the seizures but they are able to inluence the occurence of seizures. About 10% - 12% of women (with epilepsy) have catamenial epilepsy which means that their seizures are directly affected by their menstrual cycle. The seizures tend to occur when a lot of estrogen is present during the body such as during ovulation. For some others, the seizures can occur when the progesterone levels in the body drop such as during menstruation. It is said that as many as" 40% of menstrual cycles in women with epilepsy do not release an egg" and that women with epilepsy generally produce eggs less often than the normal ...
Epilepsy is a condition characterized by recurrent seizures which are unprovoked by any immediately identifiable cause (Hopkins & Shorvon, 1995). It is also known as a seizure disorder. A wide range of links and risk factors are associated with the condition, but most of the time the cause is unknown. Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, affecting approximately two and half million people in the US and about 50 million worldwide. Though seizures can occur at any age, epilepsy is most commonly seen in children and the elderly. Most respond well to treatment and can control their seizures, but for some it is a chronic illness. A clinical diagnosis is the first step to finding a potential cure for the disorder.
The first scientist who discovered Parkinson Disease (PD) was an English doctor, James Parkinson. In 1847 Dr Parkinson published a paper entitled "Essay on Shaky Palsy" describing six
The most common symptom of epilepsy are seizures. A seizure is a short event when a person has a change in awareness, movement, and behavior (Explaining epilepsy 8). During an epileptic seizure, people may be unsure of where they are and what they are doing. Some people may lose conscio...
This paper is on epilepsy and seizures. The human brain is the source of all human epilepsy. (Steven C. Schachter, Patricia O. Shafer, Joseph I. Sirven, 2013) What is epilepsy? Epilepsy is sometimes referred to a seizure disorder, though not all seizures are related to epilepsy. According to the website Stony Brook Medicine, the reason a seizure occurs is because of an unexpected surge of electrical activity in the brain. (Stony Brook Medicine, 2014) Due to the overloading of electrical activity, it causes short-lived disturbance in the messaging system between the brain cells. The word epilepsy approaches from a Greek word 'epi' signifying 'upon or above' and the Greek word 'Laptos' meaning 'seizure'. The roots we have the Greek word epilepsia and epilepsies. (Seth Statler) Epilepsy also means that a person has had repeated seizures. A single seizure does not mean they have epilepsy. Therefore epilepsy can be defined as more than one seizure. In America, more than three million Americans are affected with epilepsy and seizures, with almost 200,000 new cases diagnosed annually. (Stony Brook Medicine, 2014) Epilepsy is not a disease but a disorder of the central nervous system specifically the brain.