A mood disorder, depression causes patients to feel helpless or hopeless, and affects their perception of the world. For example, depressed patients can feel worthless even if they live productive lives. Many factors can contribute to the onset of...
Merck.com defines seizure disorders as abnormal brain electrical activity that may result in one or more of the following: convulsions, abnormal jerky movements and loss of consciousness. Seizures are fairly common, according to Merck: about 2...
Lyrica (pregabalin) is an antiepileptic drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2004. It's prescribed for several conditions, including nerve pain in diabetics (diabetic peripheral neuropathy), fibromyalgia, partial seizures (seizures...
For nearly a century, the low-carb, or ketogenic, diet has been used by physicians to treat atypical absence seizures, an epileptic syndrome. As anticonvulsant medications were developed to help control atypical absence and other epileptic...
A pregnant woman needs to be careful about nutrition because her baby eats whatever she eats. Developing fetuses are vulnerable, and a shortage of vital nutrients during pregnancy can lead to serious medical complications. In particular, pregnant...
Harmful effects from prescription drugs is growing, according to Donald Light, professor of comparative health policy at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He says this is because new drugs are tested against placebos rather...
The ketogenic diet refers to a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet or variations thereof used by doctors to treat epilepsy in children that is difficult-to-control, or refractory, using traditional antiepileptic drugs. Its use is...
Epilepsy is defined as a condition of repeated episodes of convulsions. There are different types of epilepsy in children, from general convulsions, in which the whole body shakes, to partial or focal convulsions, in which only a specific part of...
Clonazepam is a benzodiazepine medication used as a supplement to other antiepileptic drugs to treat a variety of seizure types in children. It is taken by mouth, usually two or three times daily. A variety of side effects may occur in children...
Lamictal, also known as lamotrigine, is an antiepileptic drug prescribed for seizures associated with epilepsy. The Epilepsy Foundation reports that approximately three million individuals suffer from seizure disorders in the United States, with...
Topamax (topiramate) is a daily, prophylactic medication used to treat migraines and to control epileptic seizures. Although the exact mechanism is unknown, according to Topamax.com, Topamax is thought to "calm" over-excitable nerve cells, which...
The prescription medication gabapentin is available in generic form and as the brand-name drug Neurontin. It is primarily used for controlling seizures in people with epilepsy and to relieve the pain of postherpetic neuralgia, a condition that...
Lyrica, or pregabalin, is used to treat various medical conditions including epilepsy, nerve damage caused by diabetes, post-herpetic neuralgia (pain after having shingles) and fibromyalgia. Different doses of Lyrica are used to treat different...
Generally diagnosed between the ages of 2 and 6 years old, children who have Lennox-Gastaut syndrome suffer from a severe form of epilepsy. Lennox-Gastaut patients usually experience several seizure types, including myoclonic, atonic and tonic....
Gabapentin is a prescription medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for control of shingles-related pain and partial seizures, usually in combination with another antiseizure medication. Doctors often prescribe gabapentin for...
When a number of the brain's interconnected neurons suddenly begin to discharge electrical energy in a disorganized fashion, this activity can interrupt some of the brain's functions and can cause a seizure. Seizures may involve involuntary muscle...
According to the American Migraine Foundation, more than 36 million people in the United States suffer from migraines, which are excruciating and often debilitating headaches. Symptoms of migraines include severe head and neck pain, retinal...
According to the American Heart Association or AHA, increased cholesterol levels can raise the risk of heart disease and stroke. Factors that can contribute to harmful cholesterol levels include diet, drugs, metabolic disorders, and certain...
Glucose is main source of energy for the body's various metabolic processes. This sugar comes from the carbohydrate-rich foods we eat like rice, milk, fruit, bread and sweets. The levels of glucose in the bloodstream vary depending on the foods...
The ketogenic diet is a high fat, low carbohydrate diet used for children with hard to control seizure disorders. There are many medications used to treat epilepsy in children, but the ketogenic diet is a viable treatment option for those whose...
The Merck Manual Home Edition notes that about 2 percent of people have a seizure, a neurological condition in which irregular electrical activity occurs in the brain. Seizures can affect one part of the brain, called a partial seizure, or the...
Epilepsy is a brain disorder characterized by seizures. Seizures are caused by disturbed brain activity. Medical conditions like stroke, infections, brain injuries and infections all are potential causes. Surgery and medications called...
As with most forms of epilepsy, your physician will probably prescribe antiepileptic drugs as a first-line treatment for myoclonic seizures. Valproate (Depakote) is frequently prescribed for myoclonic epilepsy, and it is thought to work due to...
Epilepsy is defined as recurrent unprovoked seizures; a seizure is an abnormal electrical "firing" of brain cells that usually lasts from a few seconds to a few minutes, resulting in muscle activity, strange sensations, or even loss of...
Dilantin, also called phenytoin, is a medication taken by some people for control of seizures. Like all anti-seizure medications, Dilantin can cause problems for the fetus when used by a woman during pregnancy, especially during the first three...
Tegretol is a brand name of carbamazepine. It is a medication used to control some types of seizures in the treatment of epilepsy. Doctors have also found that it helps to relieve neurological pain, resulting from trigeminal neuralgia. Although...
According to the Epilepsy Foundation, epilepsy and seizures affect almost 3 million Americans, with around 200,000 new cases being diagnosed each year. Epilepsy is generally treated by medications, surgery, diet changes, vagus nerve stimulation or...
Valproic acid is a drug presented as a sodium salt known as sodium valproate or valproate sodium. Doctors use sodium valproate to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder and other psychiatric conditions requiring the administration of mood stabilizers....
Calcium deposits on the brain -- also known as cranial calcification -- occur when a medical disorder causes your body to deposit calcium in your brain rather than in teeth or bones. Calcium deposits in the brain can cause changes in brain...
