How to Control Epilepsy

HOW TO CONTROL EPILEPSY

 

    Epilepsy is a medical condition where it affects the brain resulting in an individual having seizures. This is a long term condition to have to live with, there is not just one type of seizures; there are different types of seizures most of the time it is associated with epilepsy. For example, a person can be can be shaking and fall down, or some appears as "staring spells". 

    Some way people have manage their epilepsy are through medications, fixing their daily activities such as having a healthy diet, receiving regular amount of sleep, and lowering stress. A major necessity is to have a healthy support from family and friends. It is very important to find a specialist for this condition to continue with treatment. 

1. Epilepsy Fast Facts | CDC

2. Four Ways to Get Better Seizure Control | Features | Epilepsy | CDC

Coral Snake's Venom Finally Understood

     It look longer than a decade to figure out, but researchers finally identified how a coral snake's poisonous venom kills prey. Using biochemical studies, the researchers successfully identified the two proteins responsible for the venom: micrurotoxins (MmTx). The researchers tagged these proteins and observed them to figure out how they cause the seizures that kill the prey. Basically, these proteins bind onto the GABA (A) receptors located in the pores of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord of the prey. Once attached, the MmTX proteins do not let go. The strong binding changes the shape of the pore and keeps it permanently open. Because of this, the nerve cells cannot reset; thus, false signals are sent to the brain. This leads to the constant convulsion of the prey that leads to their eventual death. The researchers then go on to state that they hope their findings can shed light onto the workings of other seizure-like disorders (ex: epilepsy).
     I feel like the article is a clear example of how useful genetics can be because the findings of this experiment can help further understand diseases in humans (like epilepsy). Also, it's crazy to me how long it took the researchers to understand how this specific species' venom works. The article states that it acts completely different than venoms from other snakes. It just makes me wonder how this specific snake's venom became so different. Were there mutations? Was it due to environmental factors? Maybe other work can be done to answer these questions.

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More About Snake Venom

3-Parent Child Controversy

The article, When will "3-Parent Babies" come to the U.S.? is explaining how in the United Kingdom the idea of 3-parent babies has been passed in parliament. The child will be genetically made up with material from two females and one male. The main goal for this process is so that the mother can have a child without passing on genetic mutations. Mainly the process is to replace the mitochondria that would be in the mothers’ egg. The genetic mutations that are trying to be avoided cause seizures, premature deaths and even loss of sight.

Similar to In Vitro Fertilization(IVF) the process will be done in a petri dish. Genes from the mother, father and female donor will be mixed to make the embryo. The female donor will have a mitochondrial DNA that has no mutations. The nucleus of that egg, the birth mom’s nuclear DNA and the father’s DNA will all be combined to form what will make a child’s genetic makeup. This will then be inserted into the birth mothers’ uterus similar to IVF treatments. The problem is that not enough studies have been done to prove that future issues will not occur. Nobody really knows if genetic mutations will occur in later generations of those children that are created through this process, Public response has showed that people are concerned with the idea of “designer babies."  People think that babies will be created to be smarter, more athletic and have a specific look.

I think this article is interesting in that it is showing how advanced scientific technology has really gotten. Whether or not that is a good thing is the main issue. Personally I think that this is a bad idea. People are going to take it to the level where "designer babies" might actually become a reality. If this happens then society itself will be artificially created. The other issue is that research has not been able to prove the long term affects this 3-parent baby process could have on future generations. What if the mitochondrial mutations come back but even stronger than they were previously, this could cause an even bigger issues in society as a whole. The FDA should further investigate possible harmful affects. 

Article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-will-3-parent-babies-come-to-the-u-s/

Epilepsy and Genes

Research teams at Scripps translational science institute has found a new genetic cause of a rare epilepsy that begins in early childhood. After sequencing an entire genome the researchers located a mutation in the KCNB1 gene after using a 10 year old girl from San Diego who has this rare form of epilepsy.

The KCNB1 regulates the flow of potassium ions through neurons, this affects how the cells communicate with one another. The finding of this has allowed new treatment options for children with a case of epilepsy encephalpathy. The research team allowed for this girl to improve drastically, from her almost seizing 25 times a day to less now. The scientists believe that with this finding she will only keep improving in time.

I think this finding is amazing. It could help childrens lives completely, from seizing many times a day and not being able to living their lives to being able to have an almost funtional normal life. If the treatments keep increasing because of the findings, I think that this could help the children that have this rare form of epilepsy.

Article Link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/264705.php

Supporting link: http://neurology.stanford.edu/epilepsy/patientcare/videos/e_09.html

Human stem cell-derived neuron transplants reduce seizures in mice

     The Harvard Stem Cell Institute has been working to find ways to treat disease with stem cells. A recent study by Harvard has shown that stem cell transplantation could be a useful way to help epileptics who don't respond well to the current anti-seizure drugs. What they have successfully transplanted in mice are seizure-inhibiting human embryonic stem cell-derived neurons into the brains of mice. The results show that half of the mice no longer had seizures and the other half showed significant drops in frequency of seizures. More research from this project can be viewed in this paper, where the methods are more in depth and results are displayed.

   

     This picture above shows one of the stem cell-derived neurons integrating itself into an affected epileptic brain. I find it interesting how valuable stem cells are to researching new ways to treat disease. I believe they have endless possibilities once we establish ways to mass produce them. The brain is always a touchy subject when it comes to treatments of disease because of all the complications that can come with it, but reading articles like this gives me hope about the future.

Main Article
Additional Reading

Neurons Derived from Human Stem Cells Reduce Seizures in Mice

Stem cell derived interneuons integrated into an epileptic mice's brain. 

Scientists at McLean Hospital and Harvard Stem Cell Institute have developed a new strategic approach in helping patients who suffer from epileptic seizures. Associate Neurobiologist Dr. Sangmi Chung successfully transplanted human neurons derived from embryonic stem cells into the brains of mice with epilepsy. The neurons had a special seizure-inhibiting factor. Once the neurons were transplanted into the mice, "The transplanted neurons begin to receive excitatory input from host neurons and in turn generate inhibitory responses that reverse the electrical hyperactivity that cause seizures;" explained Dr. Chung. Half of the mice in the study did not show any signs of seizure activity. The other half of the mice studied showed a diminished amount of seizure frequency.

Before testing on humans, further studies on primate must be conducted. However, the research done so far is very promising. Embryonic stem cells can be differentiated into many other cell types, even when they become neurons. For this reason, the neurons must first need to be purified before entering a human’s brain to ensure that only the interneurons (seizure-inhibiting) are transplanted. This is simply as a precaution to guarantee that cells transplanted into humans are safe without any risk of causing harm to the patient. The researchers are currently working on a method to extract only interneurons from their derived stem-cell neurons.

Approximately 65 million people suffer from epilepsy. Of those, many receive anti-seizure medication. However, approximately 33% of epileptic patients cannot reap the benefits from anti-seizure medication. The medication fails to decrease the seizure activity in their brain. Those who can’t take medication have the option of having the seizure-causing area of their brain removed. It is believed that people with epilepsy have minuscule amounts of interneurons in their brains. This new research takes a step forward for those patients who can’t take anti-seizure medication. It is definitely a new therapy that hopefully makes progress in the years to come.

Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141106132206.htm

Article Related: Interneurons - http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/interneurons-definition-function-quiz.html

Scientists Reveal Potential Link Between Brain Development and Breast Cancer Gene

It has been known for awhile now that mutations in the BRCA1 gene cause breast and ovarian cancer in women, but recent studies have shown that the same gene may also effect brain development. This explains why  women who are genetically prone to breast cancer also suffer from brain seizures. The team from Salk's Laboratory of Genetics found that eliminating BRCA1 in the neural stem cells of mice had profound effects on the brain making it smaller and the cerebellum to be smooth, rather then filled with ridges. Also many of the neurons died rapidly after being formed resulting in interference in balance and motor function. This happens because the protein in which BRCA1 codes for packages DNA for replication and without this protein the DNA becomes fragile and is more likely to create errors in replication.
          This information is a tremendous step towards the treatment of cancer. With this new information, doctors can identify breast cancer susceptible patients predisposed to seizures and provide appropriate treatments. The faster cancer can be spotted and treated, the higher the chances of survival.

Manic Mice

Researchers have noticed a correlation in mice and humans involving the duplication of a single gene and the excess proteins formed as a result of this. In laboratories it has been seen that mice exhibiting this gene duplicate often suffer from seizures and show manic behavior. A study was done that treated these mice with a widely used drug and it was observed to have successfully treated these symptoms and brought them back to normal health and temperament. It has been seen that in many humans suffering from ADHD, aspbergers syndrome, autism, and other neurological disorders, that they often have a duplicate of the SHANK3 gene, which also causes the manic personalities in mice.  



Smoothly functioning synapses are key to normal every day functions in the body, from socializing to normal decision-making skills. Where scientists used to believe the normal neurological disorders were instances of synapses malfunctioning, the gene SHANK3 has come under focus in the past few years. SHANK3 is "a gene that encodes one of the 'architectural' proteins that help to ensure that messages are relayed properly between cells". After various treatments, the researchers gave the mice valproate, an anti-convolsive and mood stabilizing drug often used in individuals with bipolar disorder or suffering from epilepsy. These mice appeared to have been completely treated for their neurological disorders through this medication. What this study showed is that some neurological disorders and psychiatric syndromes are a product of excess SHANK3 protein that can be correctly treated.

Article:     http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=extra-gene-makes-mice-manic

Sub-article:      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24153177