Herbal Health » Epilepsy

EPILEPSY AND ITS SPECIAL FORMS/SPECIAL PATTERNS AND CAUSES:DEGENERATIVE DISEASES

admin — Tue, 17 May 2011 13:10:39 +0000

A number of progressive, degenerative diseases of the brain affect children. Epilepsy is commonly seen in most of them. One group is called storage diseases because the proteins and fats that are normally broken down to waste products (metabolized) and eliminated from the body cannot be broken down in these rare inherited metabolic conditions. These products accumulate within nerve cells and affect their function, leading to epilepsy and mental retardation. These progressive conditions are usually fatal, but the duration of the illness may be quite variable. The names attached to these storage diseases reflect the individuals who described the conditions and the material stored. Different conditions begin at different ages. Among these conditions are Tay-Sachs disease (GM2 gangliosidosis), Batten’s disease (ceroid lipofuscinosis), and the various leukodystrophies. In the leukodystrophies, epilepsy is likely to appear later in the course of the progressive disease.
Although many of the epilepsy syndromes and some of these infections sound very frightening and can be devastating to both the child and the family, fortunately these conditions are uncommon. Most children with epilepsy do not have these conditions and their seizures are controlled. Most children with epilepsy do very well.
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SURGICAL APPROACHES TO EPILEPSY: SURGERY FOR PARTIAL SEIZURES – RISK-BENEFIT DISCUSSION WITH YOUR PHYSICIANS – YOUR CHILD’S CHANCE OF SUCCESS

admin — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:41:09 +0000

You cannot, however, apply statistical figures to your child. Your child’s chance of success will depend on the cause of the seizures and the exact location of the focus within these lobes. The figures quoted also depend on how a specific center selects its patients for surgery. If they only select “ideal” candidates their success rate will be higher. If they take some of the more difficult patients, they may be less “successful.” Your child is unique and, therefore, the discussion and the chances of success are unique. Besides, modern techniques of evaluation may improve your child’s chances of having a successful outcome.

Whether the risks of surgery are worth the possible benefits is a very personal decision. The benefits of possibly being totally free of seizures will have different values to different people. The risks each individual and family are willing to take to achieve that condition are also very personal. It is our belief, however, that in general physicians and surgeons have been far too conservative in recommending surgery. Temporal lobe removal may be preferable to taking medication for a lifetime, even if the medication is controlling the seizures with minimal side effects. The anterior part of the temporal lobe on either side, as noted, may be removed without causing neurologic problems. Much of the frontal lobe on either side can also be safely removed.

Because language function is in the more posterior part of the left temporal lobe in most children, surgery that might involve that area requires very careful evaluation in order to weigh the possible risks and benefits. Similarly, since motor function is in the posterior frontal lobe, consideration of surgery near that area also requires careful thought.

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SURGICAL APPROACHES TO EPILEPSY: SURGERY FOR PARTIAL (FOCAL) SEIZURES – RISK-BENEFIT DISCUSSION WITH YOUR PHYSICIANS – YOUR CHILD’S CHANCE OF SUCCESSYou cannot, however, apply statistical figures to your child. Your child’s chance of success will depend on the cause of the seizures and the exact location of the focus within these lobes. The figures quoted also depend on how a specific center selects its patients for surgery. If they only select “ideal” candidates their success rate will be higher. If they take some of the more difficult patients, they may be less “successful.” Your child is unique and, therefore, the discussion and the chances of success are unique. Besides, modern techniques of evaluation may improve your child’s chances of having a successful outcome.Whether the risks of surgery are worth the possible benefits is a very personal decision. The benefits of possibly being totally free of seizures will have different values to different people. The risks each individual and family are willing to take to achieve that condition are also very personal. It is our belief, however, that in general physicians and surgeons have been far too conservative in recommending surgery. Temporal lobe removal may be preferable to taking medication for a lifetime, even if the medication is controlling the seizures with minimal side effects. The anterior part of the temporal lobe on either side, as noted, may be removed without causing neurologic problems. Much of the frontal lobe on either side can also be safely removed.Because language function is in the more posterior part of the left temporal lobe in most children, surgery that might involve that area requires very careful evaluation in order to weigh the possible risks and benefits. Similarly, since motor function is in the posterior frontal lobe, consideration of surgery near that area also requires careful thought.*156\208\8*

SEXUAL ACTIVITY AND EPILEPSY

admin — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:39:38 +0000

Orgasm in both men and women is presumably accompanied by some sort of ‘paroxysmal discharge of cerebral nerve cells’. This, and the impossibility of control of orgasm beyond a certain point, suggests an analogy with seizures. In fact seizures during or immediately after intercourse are exceptionally uncommon. When they do occur, they probably represent one of the types of reflex epilepsy. Except in these rarer cases, there is certainly no reason for avoiding intercourse on the grounds that seizures may be provoked.

Unfortunately, epilepsy is sometimes accompanied by a decline in sexuality. Many adolescents find their initial dates worrying enough (‘Which cinema should I take her to?’ ‘Should I let him kiss me?’), but how much more worrying must it be to take a girl out knowing that there is a chance, albeit a remote chance, that a seizure will occur during the date? Anxiety about contact with the opposite sex may have its basis in such entirely understandable problems of adolescence. However, there is evidence that a decline in sexuality may occur more frequently in those with seizures arising in the temporal lobe than in other types of seizures. Rarely, libido and potency may improve after temporal lobe surgery.

Sometimes patients may complain about loss of libido and sexual performance after beginning anticonvulsant drugs. This seems to happen most frequently after phenobarbitone and primidone, but it is difficult to be sure how much is due to the drugs, and how much to social and psychological factors.

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