Related topics: brain , brain cells , seizures
Epilepsy
hideEpilepsy (from the Greek επιληψία /epili΄psia/ ) is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, with almost 90% of these people being in developing countries. Epilepsy is more likely to occur in young children, or people over the age of 65 years, however it can occur at any time. Epilepsy is usually controlled, but not cured, with medication, although surgery may be considered in difficult cases. However, over 30% of people with epilepsy do not have seizure control even with the best available medications. Not all epilepsy syndromes are lifelong – some forms are confined to particular stages of childhood. Epilepsy should not be understood as a single disorder, but rather as a group of syndromes with vastly divergent symptoms but all involving episodic abnormal electrical activity in the brain.
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News tagged with epilepsy
You can control your Marilyn Monroe neuron
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In a scientific first, researchers have been able to demonstrate the ability of humans to control the activity of individual brain cells.
Star-shaped cells in the brain aid with learning
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Sep 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Every movement and every thought requires the passing of specific information between networks of nerve cells. To improve a skill or to learn something new entails more efficient or a greater ...
Epilepsy halted in mice
Aug 03, 2009 |
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Scientists at Leeds have prevented epilepsy caused by a gene defect from being passed on to mice offspring - an achievement which may herald new therapies for people suffering from the condition.
International team discovers gene associated with epilepsy
Nov 18, 2008 |
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A University of Iowa-led international research team has found a new gene associated with the brain disorder epilepsy. While the PRICKLE1 gene mutation was specific to a rare form of epilepsy, the study results could help ...
Theory about long and short-term memory questioned
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 09, 2009 |
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The long-held theory that our brains use different mechanisms for forming long-term and short-term memories has been challenged by new research from UCL, published today in PNAS.
Epilepsy Patients Are Given New Hope With Brain Implant
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Dec 09, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A startup company, Neuropace in Mountain View Ca., has developed a device that offers new hope for epilepsy patients. The device is designed to neutralize the abnormal electrical activity ...
Epilepsy drug may increase risk of autism in children
Medicine & Health / Medications
Dec 01, 2008 |
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A new study shows that women who take the epilepsy drug valproate while pregnant may significantly increase their child's risk of developing autism. The preliminary research is published in the December 2, 2008, print issue ...
Study yields clues about the evolution of epilepsy
Jan 06, 2009 |
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Two children have a seizure. One child never has another seizure. Twenty years later, the other child has a series of seizures and is diagnosed with epilepsy. A study being led by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ...
New links between epilepsy and brain lipids
Sep 17, 2009 |
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In mice that are missing a protein found only in the brain, neural signals "go crazy," leaving the animals with epileptic seizures from a young age, researchers have found. The report in the September 18th Cell, a Cell P ...
Researchers discover that gene switches on during development of epilepsy
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Apr 23, 2009 |
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A discovery made by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine while studying mice may help explain how some people without a genetic predisposition to epilepsy can develop the disorder.
Study May Explain How A Well-Known Epilepsy and Pain Drug Works
Oct 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A Duke University Medical Center researcher who spent years looking for the signals that prompt the brain to form new connections between neurons has found one that may explain precisely how a well-known ...
Research sheds new light on epilepsy
Nov 30, 2009 |
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Pioneering research using human brain tissue removed from people suffering from epilepsy has opened the door to new treatments for the disease.
New research suggests common anti-seizure medications may increase risk of cardiovascular problems
Medicine & Health / Medications
Mar 18, 2009 |
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An important clinical repercussion in the treatment of epilepsy has been discovered by a research team led by Scott Mintzer, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Neurology and the Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy ...
First Gene Discovered for Most Common Form of Epilepsy
Jan 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of researchers, led by investigators at Columbia University Medical Center, has uncovered the first gene linked to the most common type of epilepsy, called Rolandic epilepsy. ...
A new relationship between brain derived neurotrophic factor and inflammatory signaling
Oct 22, 2008 |
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In the October 14th edition of Science Signaling researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia/University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and The University of Colorado ...
