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Long term effect ?
Tue, 01/31/2006 - 22:11Topic: Parents & Caregivers
Hi, we have a 14 yr old girl (K) who has been treated for epilepsy for 5-6 yrs now. We are only on drug number 3 but may need to try another.
K has absense seizures, partial seizures and tonic clonic. Her highest episode period is normally at night.
What most concerns us is the possibility of long term effects from the seizures themselves. With heart attacks and strokes there is scaring that occurs leading to permanent effects. Can this happen with seizures and does anyone know any sites where we can do some research on this specific subject???
Comments
Re: Re: Long term effect ?
Submitted by dawlew on Mon, 2006-02-06 - 05:44
Hi,
Thanks for the links. We are keen to check them out. Fri we saw our specialist who had results of recent 1 wk stay in hospital. He said results were very conlusive. K's seizure activity all comes from her right temporal lobe. After trying a few drugs with no real positive effect he is recommending surgery. This opens up a whole new world of research as we want to make thewisest decission.
Thanks again for your reply David & Louise
Re: Long term effect ?
Submitted by txrhb1 on Fri, 2006-02-03 - 03:38
Hi, I think there is a lot of controversy over this question. I have read studies that lean towards seizures causing damage, and other studies leaning away from that theory. Here is a good article that might help you understand some of the issues faced in trying to determine a concrete answer: http://www.epilepsy.com/articles/ar_1064856376.html And another article about progression of temporal lobe epilepsy: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16043790&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum I have simple and complex partial seizures, and have scarring in my right temporal lobe. According to my doctor, and much of the research I've done online, it is unknown whether the scarring caused the seizures or if the seizures caused the scarring? (which came firsst, the chicken or the egg?) wishing you the best of luck, Barbie *************************************** "We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can fly only by embracing each other." -lucian de crescenzo