| Is the center that controls and regulates voluntary and involuntary responses in the body. | The brain |
| When portions of the brain become overly stimulated or when multiple cells break down at the same time in an abnormal fashion, however, | a seizure may occur. |
| After a nerve cell actuates, a certain chemicals prevent ??? until the internal charge of the neuron returns to a resting state. | prevent a second firing of the neuron |
| If seizures recur or are prolonged over short periods of time, what may happen? | the potential for additional seizures increases as nerve cell death, scar tissue formation, and new axons accumulate. |
| • One of the principal inhibiting chemicals in the brain is? | gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) |
| • GABA causes? | chloride channels for negatively charged ions to open and flood into the excited neuron, which in turn decreases the internal charge and prevents the nerve cell from firing again. |
| • If there is a disruption in the cells that produce GAB or in the receptor sites for GABA these channels may fail to? | open and moderate the excitability of the nerve cell. |
| • Another chemical that plays a significant role in the pathophysiology of seizure activity is? | glutamate |
| • A major excitatory mediator in the brain, glutamate binds to receptors that? | open channels for sodium, potassium, and calcium into the cell. |
| • Some generic forms of seizures involve a predilection for excessively frequent or prolonged activation of glutamate receptors, which? | increases the excitability of the brain and the possibility of further seizure activity. |
| • Seizure disorder is a broad term used to describe any condition in which | a seizure may be a symptom. |
| • Seizure is a term often used in place of . | epilepsy |
| • The type of seizure a patient experiences depends on
• The cause of the seizure, including “unknown causes,” also influences its? | which part and how much of the brain is involved, as do the symptoms that the person has during a seizure.
...manifestation. |
| • Two broad categories of seizures are distinguished: | generalized seizures (absence, atonic, tonic-clonic, myoclonic) and partial seizures (simple and complex). |
| • Non-epileptic seizures are essentially a symptom caused by either? | physiological or psychological conditions |
| When the seizure activity has a known cause, it is generally classified as a | non-epileptic seizure. |
| • Such short (non-epileptic), frequent events mimic epileptic seizures, but do not involve | abnormal, rhythmic discharges of cortical neurons. |
| Non-epileptic seizure may also be caused by infectious diseases:
Other causes may include: | ...such as HIV/AIDS, encephalitis, or meningitis.
...drug use, high fever (especially in children), abrupt cessation of certain medications, excessive alcohol consumption, traumatic brain injury, stroke, cardiovascular disorders, or even organ failure, such as of the liver or kidneys. |
| • If a seizure has no identifiable cause, it is considered an | epileptic seizure. |
| • Epileptic seizures are a symptom of? | epilepsy, a brain disorder in which clusters of neurons sometimes signal abnormally in the brain. |
| Can anything that disturbs the normal patterns of activity, such as brain damage, abnormal brain development, or illness, cause seizure activity?
True or False | True
Anything that disturbs the normal patterns of activity, such as brain damage, abnormal brain development, or illness, can cause seizure activity. |
| Having a seizure, however mean a person has epilepsy:
True or False | False
Having a seizure, however does not necessarily mean a person has epilepsy, |
| Generally, a person is not considered to have epilepsy unless he or she has ???; even then, this diagnosis is only suspected until further testing is done to confirm its presence. | two or more episodes of seizure activity |
| are the diagnostic tests most commonly performed to definitively diagnose epilepsy. | Electroencephalography and brain scans |
| • Numerous medications used to treat seizures and epilepsy are selected based on the: | type of seizure, age of the patient, side effects and cost. |
| There are three main goals of antiseizure epileptic drug therapy: | (1) to eliminate or reduce the frequency of seizure activity to the maximum degree possible;
(2) to avoid the adverse effects associated with long-term treatment; and
(3) to assist patients in maintaining or resuming their usual routines, psychosocial activities, and occupational activities so as to maintain as normal a lifestyle as possible. |
| While the ideal antiseizure medication would prohibit seizures without resulting in any undesired adverse effects, most of the currently available drugs not only fail to adequately control seizure activity in some people, but also produce adverse effects that... | range in severity from minimal impairment of the CNS to hepatic failure. |
