Epilepsy

Epilepsy

By: Susana Sanchez

Andrew Leach

What is epilepsy?

Presentation Overview

• Epilepsy: "seizure disorders."
• Epilepsy is a neurological disorder caused by unusual nerve cell activity in the brain resulting in unprovoked seizures.
• Those with epilepsy may be subject to any of the various types of seizures and may even suffer from multiple types.
• Each different type of seizure may bring different symptoms and may lead to other health problems.

• What is epilepsy?
• Demographics
• Types of seizure and epilepsy
• Symptoms and signs
• What happens in the brain? Why?
• Treatments and Prevention
• Prognosis and Outcomes
• Research at Boston University

Symptoms and signs

Demographics

-Falling

-Repetition of

involuntary

movements

Prognosis

ECG

62

Absence

bpm

Stiffening of arms and legs followed by jerking motions

-There is presently no cure for epilepsy.

-But, good news: 70 -80 % people diagnosed with epilepsy are able to control their symptoms effectively with the right drug(s).

-Patients are able to lead relatively normal lives with careful symptom management. Some are even able to stop taking drugs, eventually!

So, what is the best way to help???

• Studies suggest non-Latino whites are more commonly affected than people of African-American descent.
• No specific gender is more susceptible to epilepsy, but each gender may be more susceptible to specific types of epilepsy.
• Cryptogenic Seizures are found to be more common in women while symptomatic epilepsies are more common in men.

Visual and auditive hallucinations

*Some people may not realize about their condition

What happens in the brain???

Thank You!

Treatments and prevention

Outcomes

Why?

Main Types of Seizures:

• Epilepsy tends to be a lifelong condition, but effective management allows most to live seizure-free productive lives.
• Most occupational and recreational activities are open to people with controlled epilepsy.
• Most countries allow driving after a seizure-free period of 6 to 12 months. (On or off medication)

Research about Epilepsy in Boston Medical School

-Genetics

-Other diseases

-Injuries

-Natural development

Epilepsy is a brain disorder in which clusters of neurons, in the brain sometimes signal abnormally. During a seizure, neurons may fire as many as 500 times a second, much faster than normal. In some people, this happens only occasionally; for others, it may happen up to hundreds of times a day.

BUSM Researcher Receives Grant from CURE

Laboratory of Translational Epilepsy

• Treatments include:
• Seizure medications
• Brain surgery
• Dietary changes
• Vagus Nerve Therapy
• Behavioral therapies
• Things thank can help prevent epilepsy:
• Protect against head injury.
• Protect against prenatal injury.
• Get vaccinated against illnesses that may lead to epilepsy.

Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy

"Mathematics, Neuroscience and Epilepsy"

Focal seizures

(Partial seizures)

Generalized seizures

-Loss of consciousness

-Falls

-Strong muscle spasms

-Repeated jerking movements

Shelley J. Russek PhD and her colleagues found that an important cellular signaling pathway, JAK/STAT , is activated after brain injuries that lead to epilepsy, and that inhibiting this activation reduces subsequent seizure frequency in an experimental model.

-60% people get partial seizures

-Sudden feelings

-Or hallucinations

-In complex one may lose consciousness

-Dream like experience

-Repetitive behaviors

-There may be previous auras

Kramer’s mathematical modelsof epileptic seizures, giving neurologists new insights into to help patients with intractable epilepsy by identifying the patterns present in the brain before, during, and after a seizure. Using mathematical equations that behave in unexpected ways even though when they are based on on normal firing patterns of neurons. In 2005, his thesis, a mathematical model of epileptic seizures, pointed to opportunities for therapeutic intervention to stop or control seizures.

Types of Epilepsy

Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome

-Falls and drop attacks

-Different types of seizures

-Usually for life

Benign Epilepsy Syndromes

-During childhood

-May last until adolescence

-"Benign"