[Info] Possible Causes for Epilepsy and Seizures

[occb]

The above post is for a very specific epilepsy syndrome. Below I've included a link to a defect in chromosome 15 and hereditary epilepsy which is more general:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0114075919.htm

[Ruth]

Thank you for doing this research for us. So I have chromosone 15 messed up. I looked up your link.

[occb]

Thank you for doing this research for us. So I have chromosone 15 messed up. I looked up your link.

Maybe you do, maybe you don't. That would have to be detirmined by genetic testing.

[Cinnabar]

Thanks, occb. The article on ADNFLE was a very interesting read but maybe you could help me out with what I saw as two descrepancies in the article. e.g.

Neurological and mental state "Normal.

Diagnostic procedures. Brain imaging is "Normal".

Now, these two statements seem to contradict what we know about Epilepsy. That there is little that is "normal" about our mental or neurological states. (Granted brain imaging can come out normal)

Then at its end, I read:

Prognosis: "Seizures" are lifelong, with spontaneous remissions and relapses. Attacks become milder after ages 50 to 60.

Now, they're talking about seizures which "are" abnormal neurological and mental states.

[Ruth]

All of my neurologists throughout the years have said that my epilepsy is genetic.

My father, sister, 2 of my sons and I have epilepsy. The epilepsy in my family goes way back in my father's family for hundreds of years. A relative from Scotland came and talked about it to the family. He said that it goes back hundreds of years.

[occb]

I'm not denying that your E is hereditary. I'm just saying that which genetic mutation is causing it, has to be determined either through genetic testing, or through a match in symptoms and syndromes. Your E could be caused by a mutation in Chromosome 15, or it could be due to a mutation in other genes.

[PhylisFeinerJohnson]

Here's what my research came up with:

The Genetics of Epilepsy

Clinical tests suggest that genetic abnormalities may be some of the most important factors contributing to epilepsy. Some types of epilepsy have been traced to an abnormality in a specific gene.

Researchers estimate that more than 500 genes could play a role in this disorder. However, it is increasingly clear that, for many forms of epilepsy, genetic abnormalities play only a partial role, perhaps by increasing a person’s susceptibility to seizures that are triggered by an environmental or external factors.

Like photosensitivity. (Did you know that 25 percent of people with primary generalized epilepsy are photosensitive?)

While abnormal genes sometimes cause epilepsy, they also may influence the disorder in subtler ways…

For example, one study showed that many people with epilepsy have an abnormally active version of a gene that increases resistance to drugs. This may help explain why anticonvulsant drugs do not work for some people.

Genes also may control other aspects of the body’s response to medications and each person’s susceptibility to seizures, or seizure threshold. Abnormalities in the genes that control neuronal migration – a critical step in brain development – can lead to areas of misplaced or abnormally formed neurons in the brain that can cause epilepsy.

And in some cases, genes may contribute to development of epilepsy even in people with no family history of the disorder. These people may have a newly developed abnormality, or mutation, in an epilepsy-related gene.

References:
http://www.healingwell.com/library/epilepsy/info1.asp
http://www.healthcentral.com/ency/40...00044_2_2.html
http://www.geocities.com/geneinfo/co...epilepsyb.html

[occb]

Interesting stuff Phylis. Thank you!

[Ruth]

Wow, 500 genes. Is that in one person or just one gene in a person?

I cannot afford testing to see which gene or genes mine is. That explains why I am allergic to so many medicines.

I am photosensitive, too. Is that do to genetics?

[PhylisFeinerJohnson]

Researchers estimate that more than 500 genes could play a role in this disorder. (I think the genetics are random.) However, it is increasingly clear that, for many forms of epilepsy, genetic abnormalities play only a partial role, perhaps by increasing a person’s susceptibility to seizures that are triggered by an environmental or external factors.

Like photosensitivity. (Did you know that 25 percent of people with primary generalized epilepsy are photosensitive?)

[Ruth]

That is interesting about the photosensivity. I am photosensitive. My husband just realized it after he put flourescent lights in the computer room and the kitchen. Then he noticed that my seizures started increasing.

I have a glare screen on my computer. I can wear polarized sun glasses to help.You can buy them at WalMart. If they are not prescription, they are inexpensive. Mine are prescription. I do not wear them as often as I should. TV is another phosentive. The TV glares at you.

[PhylisFeinerJohnson]

I found some more stuff on photosentivity in my research...

If you have photosensitive epilepsy, certain types of flickering or flashing light may incite a seizure. The trigger could be exposure to television screens due to the flicker or rolling images, computer monitors, certain video games or TV broadcasts containing rapid flashes or alternating patterns of different colors, in addition to intense strobe lights.

And seizures may even be triggered by natural light, such as sunlight, especially when shimmering off water, flickering through trees or through the slats of Venetian blinds.

[Dutch mom]

I have only seen child abuse being referenced to psychogenic non-epileptic seizures.

In our Dutch parent support group we do have several members and ex-members who are relatives (parent, grandparent, foster parent) to a young child suffering from a severe childhood epilepsy syndrome caused by braindamage as a result of being abused by a parent. I'm sad to say so but all of them are healthy born children who are handicapped for the rest of their lives 'thanks to' one of their own parents.

[Cinnabar]

Dutch mom, Stories like these are heartbreaking to hear. I was on a bus. I witnessed a mother beating her little boy over the head so severely that his head just swung back and forth. When she stopped and I took a look at the poor little guy. I could see that he was "brain damaged". What a bright little boy he should have been if not for that mother. To this day I feel guilty. I should have followed that woman to get her home address to report her. But I was beside myself at the time with too many feelings. When I got home, I cried.

[Cetacean]

Researchers estimate that more than 500 genes could play a role in this disorder. ...

Recent research indicates brain inflammation plays a role in epilepsy. Presumably anti-inflammatory meds, and apparently monoclonal antibodies, should ameliorate seizures.

Scientists shed light on causes of epilepsy
Tue Nov 25, 2008 10:21am EST


By Martina Fuchs
LONDON (Reuters) - A breakdown in a reaction between immune cells and blood vessels in the brain appears to play a key role in epilepsy, Italian researchers said on Monday.
The discovery could mean that some modern antibody-based drugs designed to modify the immune system used in other diseases may one day help fight the debilitating disorder.
A study of mice showed how immune cells sticking to blood vessels in the brain caused inflammation that contributed to epileptic seizures, Gabriela Constantin of the University of Verona in Italy and colleagues reported.
The finding could lead to new treatments to prevent the condition that affects about 1 percent of the general population worldwide, said Constantin, who led the study with Paolo Fabene. Its findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine.
"This mechanism was not previously suspected in epilepsy," she said in a telephone interview.
Epilepsy is considered incurable but medicines can control seizures in most people with the common neurological disorder, although sometimes they can have severe side effects.
Many seizures -- which are caused by excessive electrical activity in the brain -- involve loss of consciousness, with the body twitching or shaking. People who have more than one seizure are considered to have epilepsy.
The researchers found that during a seizure the brain released a chemical that caused the white blood cells, or leukocytes, to stick to blood vessels. The immune cells protect the body from threats such as bacteria, viruses, and infections.
But when these immune cells stuck to the brain blood vessels they caused damage by releasing molecules that caused inflammation and contributed to seizures in mice, Constantin said.
"We found a lot of inflammation in this process in the generation of a new seizure," she said.
Mice that received monoclonal antibodies to block the immune cells from sticking to blood vessels had a dramatic reduction of seizures, in some cases 100 percent, Constantin said.
The treatment worked in a similar way to Elan Corp Plc's multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri and Genentech Inc's Raptiva for psoriasis, she added.
This means these kinds of drugs might also one day be used to treat epilepsy and the findings could also lead to new anti-inflammatory treatments for epilepsy, she said.
"We predict other inflammatory drugs can work and be discovered for use in humans," she said. "We have preliminary data on other inflammatory mechanism."
(Reporting by Martina Fuchs, Editing by Michael Kahn)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/scien...4AN34120081125