Focal seizures, also called partial seizures, occur in only one part of the brain. There are two types of focal seizure: Partial and complex. In this article, we look at the types, causes, symptoms, and treatment of focal seizures. What is a focal seizure? The human brain contains neurons, or brain cells, that use electrical...
Tag: <span>seizures</span>
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New epilepsy warning device could save thousands of lives
A new high-tech bracelet, developed by scientists from the Netherlands detects 85 percent of all severe night-time epilepsy seizures. That is a much better score than any other technology currently available. The researchers involved think that this bracelet can reduce the worldwide number of unexpected night-time fatalities in epilepsy patients. They published the results of...
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Stray proteins cause genetic disorders
The seizures typically begin in the first months of life. It often takes years, however, before those suffering from the rare glucose transporter type 1 (Glut1) deficiency syndrome obtain a correct diagnosis. If the disorder goes untreated, affected children experience developmental delay and frequently have neurological problems. Various defects in one gene underlie the syndrome....
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Flip a switch and shut down seizures? New research suggests how to turn off out-of-control signaling in the brain
The brain is a precision instrument. Its function depends on finely calibrated electrical activity triggering the release of chemical messages between neurons. In an epileptic brain, the neurons fire wildly. Credit: Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock.com But sometimes the brain’s careful balance is knocked out of control, as in epilepsy. Electroencephalography, or EEG, visualizes a brain’s electrical activity and...
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Absence epilepsy — When the brain is like ‘an orchestra without a conductor’
BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE At first, the teacher described her six-year-old student as absentminded, a daydreamer. The boy was having difficulty paying attention in class. As the teacher watched the boy closely, she realized that he was not daydreaming. He often blanked out for a few seconds and wouldn’t respond when she called his name....
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Brain stethoscope listens for silent seizures
When a doctor or nurse suspects something is wrong with a patient’s heart, there’s a simple way to check: put a stethoscope over the heart and listen to the sounds it makes. Doctors and nurses can use the same diagnostic tool to figure out what’s going on with the lungs, stomach and more, but not...
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Latency of seizures determined by diet
Estrogen-mediated brain protection directly linked to intake of fatty acids found in oils IMAGE: THE LATEST RESEARCH FROM HIROSHIMA UNIVERSITY CONNECTING DHA SYNTHESIS TO ESTROGEN PRODUCTION, AND CONSEQUENTIALLY BRAIN HEALTH, BACKS UP FURTHER THE OLD ADAGE THAT A DAILY INTAKE OF FISH OIL IS… view more Scientists are increasingly appreciating estrogen’s role in brain health. Now for...
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‘Silent seizures’ discovered in patients with Alzheimer’s disease
On the left is Dr. Alica Goldman and on the right is Dr. Jeffrey Noebels. Deep in the brains of two patients with Alzheimer’s disease, the main memory structure, the hippocampus, displays episodic seizure-like electrical activity. These non-convulsive hippocampal seizures are the first signs of ‘silent’ brain electrical network dysfunction described in patients with...