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.
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.”
Epilepsy and Anesthesia
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Anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) cause unique considerations for patients with epilepsy because skipping, or even delaying a single dose, can result in seizures.
Strategies for avoiding or minimizing skipped doses are paramount in the care of patients with epilepsy.
Seizure Free – A Hope or a Promise?
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Is it a reality…a hope…or a promise?
Have you been there once for a visit? And then come back, to the land of falling down, shaking, quaking and blackouts.
We all know, the only thing that remains the same is change. Everything is in a state of flux. Drugs, science, our bodies, our brains. From that you can choose hopelessness. Or hope…
Tags: angry, courage, drugs, Epilepsy, hope, hopelessness, information, perseverence, possibility, promise?, science, seizure-free, seizures, support, surgery, victim, VNS
The Gamma Knife — Non Invasive Surgery
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Neurosurgeons continue to explore the less invasive Gamma Knife radiosurgery for elimination of temporal lobe abnormalities and brain lesions.
The Gamma Knife itself has been around for quite a while, so there’s a history of its use. But its application specifically for this form of epilepsy hasn’t really been done before. Therefore, the purpose of recent research was to see if the advantages of this minimally invasive tool could provide an alternative to standard surgery…
Tags: alternative, brain lesions, cognitive, decrease, dissolve, Gamma Knife, improvement, less invasive, out-patient, precision, psychiatric, radiation, radiosurgery, Research, seizure-free, surgery
Children’s Brain Surgery…Preparing YOUR Child…
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There is no “welcome” sign to the world of childhood brain surgery. And the resulting combination of fear, shock, and pain is almost too much to bear.
No amount of preparation or knowledge can help to ease or minimize the situation.
But preparing a child for surgery emotionally, is one of the most important things you can do. Surgery, without proper explanations and preparation, can traumatize a child…
Tags: books, brain, children, doctors', emotions, explanations, fear, hospitals, knowledge, nurses, preparation, reassurances, surgery
MEG — Could It CURE Your epilepsy?
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Regardless of your age or epilepsy syndrome, all patients of all ages deserve the possibility of living seizure-free. And for those with intractable seizures, surgery is often the answer. But it’s a scary and risky proposition.
But, now there’s new hope when all else fails. A powerful new brain scanning tool which could make all the difference between successful and unsuccessful surgery. Even for those whose surgery has failed before.
Called the MEG (Magnetoencephalography), this powerful scanner acts as a real-time brain mapping and imaging device to determine where the epicenters of seizures are in the brain. It can detect changes in brain waves that occur on the order of milliseconds, as opposed to a second or more with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). And for a select few patients, those extra milliseconds can mean the difference between life and death.
Tags: brain scanner, CURE, death, Epilepsy, insurance approved, life, MEG, non-invasive, precise, surgery
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