Epilepsy Talk
Epilepsy and Memory…
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To say that lack of memory is a major worry for those of us with epilepsy is hardly a surprise.
In fact, it’s the number one concern.
Simply put, memory is our brain’s ability to store information and find it again later.
Chemical and electrical changes happen in your brain when new memories are made.
It’s a natural brain process that requires continuing attention and recording by parts of your brain.
Seizures interfere with your memory by interfering with attention or input of information.
Confusion often follows a seizure, and during this foggy time, new memory traces aren’t being laid down in the brain.
If You’re Thinking Of Getting Pregnant…
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Years ago, women who had epilepsy were often discouraged from getting pregnant. Today, that’s no longer the case.
Thanks to early and regular prenatal care, more than 90 percent of pregnant women who have epilepsy deliver healthy babies, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.
Tags: AEDS, breastfeeding, Epilepsy, Folic Acid, Neurologist, obstetrician, pre-natal care, pregnancy, safety, seizures, single medication, Tips, Vitamin K
Suicide and Epilepsy
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The statistics are depressing. (Which is one of the chief factors in suicide.) But studies say that suicide can happen to anyone at any age.
Statistics
Studies show that newly diagnosed epilepsy patients are five times more likely to commit suicide than patients who had been diagnosed more than six months previously.
And a 29-fold increase in suicide risk was seen in newly diagnosed patients with a history of psychiatric illness.
“Newly diagnosed patients often have many misconceptions about the disease,” researcher Per Sidenius, MD, of Aarhus University says. “They often don’t understand that there are good treatments with few side effects.”
The Trouble with AEDs…
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At the very best, finding the right anti-epilepsy drug is a crap shoot. There’s always the hope that this one will do it.
Or maybe adjunct therapy will work. Or, sigh, the side-effects derail you and you’re on to the next.
Is asking for seizure control too much?
The good news is that many newer AEDs are better tolerated than the older, standard AEDs. Although they, too, come with side-effects.
Newer AEDs often cause less sedation and require less monitoring than older drugs.
Tags: AEDS, anti-epilepsy drugs, benefits, dangers, seizures, side effects, uses
Epilepsy Medication Conflicts…
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For many of us, monotherapy just doesn’t work.
However adjunct therapy has its dangers.
And both treatments carry their own interactive risks – even with things as innocent as aspirin.
Tags: AEDS, drug interaction, Epilepsy, risks, side effects
Zinc Can Help You Think!
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Researchers at Duke University Medical Center, published the results of a collaboration with a Massachusetts Institute of Technology research study, which found that zinc plays a key role in signal transmission between neurons in the hippocampus — a zinc enriched region of the brain responsible for learning and memory — and where disrupted communication may contribute to epilepsy.
Tags: AEDS, communication, epilepsy treatment, memory, neurons, recommended dose, zinc, zinc supplements
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