[HappaGuy]

Whaa??!! I found this article yesterday at Reuters.com :

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

It seems new research shows that inflammation plays a role in epileptic seizures, and that certain "antibody-based" drugs may help treat the (*&%$#%$$%% f$#ng!) disease.

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.

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

The "big ah-hah!" is that existing medications may be able to undo the knot of our affliction.

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.

Source: op. cit.

I really thought they'd have had the inflammation angle covered already in the epilepsy research to date! This news really takes me by surprise. Such surprises I like!

My neurologist, one of the grand high poobahs of the field if I'm not mistaken, won't think about models other than bio-electro-chemical to explain and treat my seizure disorder.

(I've been having little luck getting a referral for EEG Biofeedback therapy. One can die from the dogma of one's doctors I tell you!. It seems that so much of what passes for health care is actually an institutional strategem for persuading patients to stand quietly in line until death obviates the need for further treatment.)


Regardless, Happy Thanksgiving epileptics! This here is new hope for incorrigible "movers and shakers" not to mention my closer kin whose seizures are externally more or less invisible (= great news for epileptics and temporal lobe epileptics like me).

I am deeply thankful for this news! What a great thanksgiving!

[BroadwayWellness]

encouraging news. good to hear.

[maryles]

When another epileptic does such research and shares it with others shows what brilliance our brains really can have. What medications have helped with that to keep myself where I am today I have no idea. I agree with the article to a point, there could be damage left from the illness, infection, (i didn't read the article that well),

I am grateful to have the brain that I do have and can do what I can do. I have had seizures for 30 years currently complex-partial. has the cannibas helped my brain? I think so. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Mary Leslie Leochner