Litigation

New Drugs May Prevent Development of Seizures and Epilepsy From Head Injury

By Michael Kaplen

Chronic seizures, also known as traumatic epilepsy caused by traumatic brain injuries or head injury, may result from chemicals released by the brain's immune system attempting to repair the injured site, according to a study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder and reported in the July issue of the journal, BRAIN.

The findings could help prevent one of the most common forms of adult epilepsy, called acquired epilepsy, or traumatic epilepsy which is often found in people who have suffered a brain injury or infection.

For decades researchers have focused on neurons as the culprits in seizures, which can be characterized as debilitating "electrical storms" in the brain. However, this new research suggests that the brain damage is caused by the release of chemicals which attempt to repair the damage at the site of brain injury. These chemicals then cause the neurons to become excited resulting in seizures.  The researchers are developing drugs that would shut down the release of these chemicals to prevent seizures from occurring.  When these seizures continue to occur, this is called epilepsy. .

It can take days, weeks or even months for the seizures to become apparent following a traumatic brain injury. Our brain injury attorneys have represented many individuals who have developed seizure disorders and epilepsy as a result of head injury. 

Full post as published by Brain Injury News and Information on July 08, 2009 (boomark / email).