Epilepsy Essay

Epilepsy Essay

  • Submitted By: alexleann
  • Date Submitted: 11/19/2013 8:46 PM
  • Category: Science
  • Words: 1441
  • Page: 6
  • Views: 99

Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a brain disorder that is portrayed by an enduring tendency to generate epileptic seizures. It can have many consequences which are also associated with many developmental disorders. They even cause a change in attitude and behavior (“Epilepsy and Seizures”). The brain is the source of epilepsy. A seizure is a disruption of the electrical communication that occurs between neurons of the brain. This disruption causes a temporary release of excessive energy. There is an uncontrolled continuous firing of neurons in certain or sometimes all areas of the brain. Thus, although the symptoms of seizures occur anywhere in the body, the electrical events that produce the symptoms occur in the brain (“The Brain”). Epilepsy has been known for at least 3,000 years, and has been described as “aspasmara” (loss of consciousness). This brain disorder can be very life threatening. Clinical diagnosis is based on the patient’s history, but most importantly the observer. Only when a person has had two or more seizures, he or she is considered to have epilepsy. Ancillary tests can be performed for confirmation (Eadie). Epilepsy affects 1% of the population; at least 1 out of every 200 people is affected (Guerrini).
Genotype/Phenotype
The Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project (EPGP) is a large international research project aimed at advancing the understanding of the genetic bases of Epilepsy. New recent discoveries of epileptic genes have been facilitated by the availability of large families with many affected members (Guerrini). Hundreds of genes have been found to cause or govern individuals to epilepsy. Genetic disorders that can cause seizures are metabolic disorders, mitochondrial disorders, single gene mutations, and syndromes where seizures are common such as in Angleman Syndrome, and Rett Syndrome (“Epilepsy and Seizures”). Only few epileptic cases are cause by alterations in single genes. This is because there is a lot of complexity involved with this...

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