Dalhousie researchers part of team on verge of epilepsy breakthrough
Researchers in Halifax and Israel have made a promising discovery that could help doctors determine whether a person with a brain injury will develop epilepsy.
The study concluded that a type of brain activity called theta waves could be used to predict and prevent epileptic seizures, said Alon Friedman of the Brain Injury Centre at Dalhousie University.
Although promising drugs have been developed in preventing epilepsy, medical professionals need to first detect reliable “biomarkers” that predict which patients will develop the disease, he said.
“As long as you don’t know who will develop epilepsy, you cannot basically treat anyone,” Friedman said in a recent interview. “There are different treatments . . . to prevent epilepsy in patients after brain injury. The problem is that we cannot implement these treatments as long as we don’t know who should get (which treatment).”
Read more: http://bit.ly/2A8dsbm
The study concluded that a type of brain activity called theta waves could be used to predict and prevent epileptic seizures, said Alon Friedman of the Brain Injury Centre at Dalhousie University.
Although promising drugs have been developed in preventing epilepsy, medical professionals need to first detect reliable “biomarkers” that predict which patients will develop the disease, he said.
“As long as you don’t know who will develop epilepsy, you cannot basically treat anyone,” Friedman said in a recent interview. “There are different treatments . . . to prevent epilepsy in patients after brain injury. The problem is that we cannot implement these treatments as long as we don’t know who should get (which treatment).”
Read more: http://bit.ly/2A8dsbm