Katharina Buczek
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 50 million people across the globe have Epilepsy.
Epilepsy is “a central nervous system (neurological) disorder in which brain activity becomes abnormal.”
These periods of abnormal brain activity may cause seizures, awareness loss, and unusual sensations or behavior.
Epilepsy is the most common neurological disorder in the world and is most commonly treated with medications such as phenytoin (Dilantin).
Still, these anti-seizure medications are nowhere near one size fits all. In fact, a recent study published in the JAMA Network found that “drug-resistant epilepsy occurs in approximately thirty to forty percent of all patients with epilepsy.”
In turn, researchers at Trinity College Dublin worked to identify another treatment approach.
In a newly published Nature Communications study, the team found that stabilizing brain blood flow may be the answer.
This is because the brain uses nearly twenty percent of the human body’s energy production each day. In order to keep up with such a high demand for energy, brain cells are compensated via a large and complex capillary network– also known as the blood-brain-barrier (BBB).
The researchers at Trinity believe that any disruption of flow in these capillaries can cause seizures.
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