Obesity threatens to become a more serious health issue in the future. A 2010 study published in the journal "PLoS Computational Biology" estimates that obesity rates will soar from the current 34 percent to 42 percent by 2050. Methods such as...
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by abnormal electrical impulses in the brain that are manifested as seizures. These abnormal electrical impulses can be caused by anything that disturbs the brain's normal neural activity, such as...
The vagus nerve, located in your neck, is linked to epilepsy, mood control and depression. Although it's not necessarily a substitute for traditional treatment, certain yoga poses and breathing techniques can help stimulate this nerve. Talk to...
Most anti-seizure medications are classified as anticonvulsants, which means they work to decrease abnormal electrical activity in the brain. Most patients can have their seizures controlled with one kind of anticonvulsant (such as valproic acid...
According to the Epilepsy Foundation, about 300,000 children in the United States have been diagnosed with epilepsy. For some of these children, epilepsy is a temporary condition which they will outgrow as they get older, while for others it is a...
Imagine that your child is sitting on the couch watching television. Suddenly his entire body starts shaking and you are frightened as to what is occurring. Your child may be experiencing a seizure. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, a seizure...
Seizures are caused by complications in the brain due to abnormal electrical activity, according to The National Institutes of Health (NIH). The most common type of seizure most people think of is a grand mal seizure, or tonic-clonic seizure. The...
Depression is a serious mood disorder that often requires medical treatment to reduce symptoms. Each treatment targets different aspects of the disorder. For example, psychotherapy focuses on the cause of the depression, while medication works on...
The heart rate is affected by many factors, so much so that people often don't realize how much the heart rate fluctuates during the day. The simple act of rising from a chair causes a change in heart rate. Emotions, actions, medications and...
Epilepsy.com states that Dilantin, generic name phenytoin, is a drug of choice for epilepsy. Dilantin is easy to use, is effective against a number of different types of seizure activity and is cost-effective. First developed in 1938, it comes in...
Exercise isn't just good for your body, it's also good for your brain. In recent years, studies have shown that exercise produces significant changes in your brain chemistry, leading to benefits such as an improved mood, decreased instances of...
Hiccups are caused by involuntary contractions of the diaphragm, explains the Mayo Clinic. After each contraction, the vocal cords close, which causes the "hic" sound. Usually bouts of hiccups will go away by themselves. However, when...
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...
Depression refers to a chronic mental illness in which a person's mood is characterized by sadness, anger and frustration. According to the Mayo Clinic, depression is a very common condition throughout the world. Symptoms include loss of interest...
According to the Depression and Bipolar Alliance, almost 6 million Americans suffer from manic depression, or bipolar disorder. There is little, if any, discrepancy between men and women, except that men begin the cycle with a manic phase and...
Major depression is never an easy thing to deal with. It can impact on your family, work, social life and can even foster thoughts of suicide---which makes treatment for it very important. A common treatment for major depression is medication....
Doctors classify an ulcer, the formation of a round or oval open sore that occurs anywhere in the lining of the digestive tract, as a peptic ulcer. Recent advancements in medications increase the rate of successful treatment and decrease the need...
Grand mal seizures, often referred to as a tonic-clonic seizures, involve convulsions of the entire body and loss of consciousness. The seizures are caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain, according to MayoClinic.com. Grand mal...
Hiccups are caused by the involuntary contraction of the diaphragm and the near-immediate closure of the vocal cords. Normal hiccups last for minutes or hours and usually develop in response to eating too quickly, drinking alcohol, temperature...
Prozac, also sold under the generic name fluoxetine, is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) that is given for depression. Prozac works by preventing the reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which results in an improvement of...
During exercise, your body needs more oxygenated blood, which results in an increase in heart rate to supply the demand. However, if you have begun to notice that your heart rate decreases during exercise, it is vitally important that you be...
Chronic depression is one of the most common health problems worldwide. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that nearly 16 percent of people in the United States experience depression at some time in their life. Chronic...
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...
Gastrin is not directly present in the diet, but dietary protein intake is a factor in triggering the production of gastrin, which stimulates gastric acid secretion. Gastrin, a hormone, induces specialized parietal cells in the lining of the...
Fainting happens when blood flow to the brain is interrupted and oxygen to the brain decreases. Medically known as syncope, warning signs include sweating, dizziness, nausea or weakness, followed by falling unconscious. The loss of consciousness...
As one of the hardest-working muscles in the body, your heart beats thanks to a complex system of nerves, cells, biochemicals and minerals. Acetylcholine, a biochemical, plays a large role in maintaining your heart's rhythm when you are at rest....
The first line of treatment for seizures is usually anticonvulsants. These drugs, also called antiepileptics (AEDs), can be divided into two categories. First-generation AEDs, like phenobarbital, phenytoin (Dilantin) and valproate (Depakote),...
The average heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute, or BPM. But no one has a heart rate that stays at the same rate all the time. Differences or variations in heart rate, called arrhythmias, are common, and most commonly occur as a consequence...
While medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and tricyclic antidepressants are popular treatment methods for depression, some people prefer ways of treating this condition that do not require taking a pill. Options exist;...
