Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label epilepsy

Female-Only Epilepsy

Many children have a form of epilepsy that is genetic, handed down from a parent. Female-only epileptic syndrome is a case in point. It is rare but it remains a debilitating problem.  At birth babies seem to be normal, but in a few months they begin having seizures. e Australian scientists have pinned down the genetic mutation responsible for its expression. Professor Gecz says that the 19 (PCDH19) gene is the mutation triggering the ailment. Females have two X chromosome which determines their sex. This duality of X triggers epilepsy in girls. The main issue with female-only epilepsy is that it causes intellectual disability because seizures cause damage. A deficiency of the allopregnanolone hormone is the main factor in the onset of the ailment. This is an effect caused by the genetic disposition. When the hormone is brought back into balance at puberty permanent damage has already been done. The research continues.   ♣ ◆   Economics by Ty Buchan...

Electrostimulation of the Brain Could Treat Elipepsy

It has been shown that elecrostimulation of one side of the brain can numb it and allow the other side, the creative part, to take over and temporally improve artistic skills. The sketching of animals by participants got much, much better. There is hope that treatments for brain disorders will be discovered. A project by Australian and French researchers has applied sequential electromagnetic pulses (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation - or rTMS) to mice. Abnormal brain connections were corrected by this process. Epilepsy, depression and tinnitus are caused by abnormal brain connections. Low-intensity repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (LI-rTMS) had a positive result on mice born with abnormal organization of the brain. Permanent implants to human brains could improve life for many patients who have continuous episodes of brain maladies. The electrostimulation changes brain chemistry. A specific chemical spreads across large areas of the brain. ...