The Effect Of Sleep Deprivation On Seizure

Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder caused by the brain's inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally. At various times throughout the day, people with narcolepsy experience fleeting urges to sleep. If the urge becomes overwhelming, individuals will fall asleep for periods lasting from a few seconds to several minutes. In rare cases, some people may remain asleep for an hour or longer. In addition to excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), three other major symptoms frequently characterize narcolepsy: cataplexy, or the sudden loss of voluntary muscle tone; vivid hallucinations during sleep onset or upon awakening; and brief episodes of total paralysis at the beginning or end of sleep. Narcolepsy is not

Research into narcoleptic dogs has shown that there is a genetic link in dogs, however, it has also shown that cataplexy occurred during vigorous play or when excited. Moreover, it was found that when the medial medulla is stimulated with an electrode muscle tone disappears. This effect appears to occur to prevent muscle movement during REM sleep and some muscle tone regulation while awake. Siegel found that during a cataplectic episode in the narcoleptic dogs this region of the brain became active. Additionally, it was found that in normal individuals this region of the brain is only highly active during REM sleep. A research in Siegel’s laboratory, Elizabeth Schenkel, demonstrated that normal animals with damaged medial medullas moved during REM sleep. Furthermore, other researchers showed that animals with damage higher on the brain stem, which connected to the medulla “raised their heads, walked and appeared to attack imaginary adversaries during REM sleep” (78).

Several people suffer from grand mal seizures but what if you suffered from another seizure and never knew anything was happening, this is called an absence seizure. When a absent seizure occurs the regular electricity of the brain is interrupted. although absent seizures do not look like much when they occur they still can be as dangerous as grand mal seizures. These absent seizures, formerly called petit mal, have impacted my life and I have several gaps of time missing from me. Absence seizures most likely occur at a young age but are often outgrown by 18. With later onset of absence seizures there is a higher chance that they will stay into adulthood. The signs that someone is having a seizure are very subtle and happen only for a few seconds at a time, so the chances of catching one is small.

Seizure disorders, according to the Mayo Clinic (2015), affect approximately 1 in 26 people in the United States. Persistent, or chronic, seizures result from a condition called epilepsy, a neurological disorder of the central nervous system. It can affect anyone regardless of age, but is more common during early childhood and after age 60. Given the number of people that seizure disorders, such as epilepsy, affect, it becomes helpful to gain a foundational understanding of the disease, including some of the causes, symptoms, and treatments available.

It was believed a seizure in the brain caused by the electric current would stimulate the release of neurotransmitters, and would allow the brain to reorganize to function correctly (Nasar). Neurotransmitters are chemical substances that transmit signals that facilitate cell to cell communication throughout the nervous system, and play a key component in the biological paradigm for treatment of schizophrenia. At this early stage of understanding schizophrenia’s pathology, it was believed these chemicals were imbalanced and shocking the brain would force a rebalance of these vital chemicals. Once rebalanced, it was hypothesized the patient would no longer suffer from schizophrenia (Tharyan, 2005). The insight into treating neurotransmitter imbalances in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia began the treatment path to present day antipsychotic pharmaceutical drug therapy. While the actual effects of electroshock therapy on patients with schizophrenia are unclear, it is still used today to treat schizophrenic patients who are resistant to pharmaceutical drug therapy. Electroshock therapy was the utilization of insulin coma therapy and electroshock therapy to treat schizophrenia were successful partly due to the required hospital admittance and doctor administered methodology. In both treatments the patients were required to be admitted into a hospital and were not responsible for administering the treatment themselves. While both treatment methods were viewed as inhumane and

Pereira A et al in 2012,(Pereira et al., 2012) in 25 drug refractory epilepsy pediatric patients, reported that they had showed a decrease of total sleep time (TST), of N3, and of REM sleep and an increase in WASO and decreased sleep efficiency. A similar study involving 40 pediatric age group patients, reported that intractable epilepsy patients have longer sleep latency poor sleep efficiency along with higher arousal index as compared to medically controlled epilepsy (Kaleyias et al., 2008). In a previous study of ours(Zanzmera et al.,

As explained in my essay, my brother’s condition did truly take a toll on my parents and myself in our daily life. My brother’s condition was never predictable, which made it much more difficult of a situation to deal with. There were times where he would not have a seizure for a few days. Yet, on other days, he would have about ten seizures a night. I remember clearly how somedays I had to stay home rather going to school just incase we had to take my brother to the hospital. Being the only English speaker in my family, I had to be present in such situations. I remember sitting on the side of his bed with my mother next to me, just waiting for him fall asleep so we could get some rest ourselves. There were times where I would go to school without getting much rest the night

Pediatric epilepsy is a common condition in the United States. Around 326,000 children experience epilepsy under the age of 15, and there are around 200,000 new diagnoses yearly (“What Happens during a Seizure”, 2014). The age of onset can begin as early as infancy and is most common during childhood. In some cases, there is no specific cause for epilepsy. However, the most common cause is a birth defect or developmental disorder. Those that have experienced head trauma, brain infections, or a minor brain injury can also lead to seizures, or epilepsy. The developing brain is more prone to seizures therefor there is a higher incidence in the pediatric population (“Pediatric Epilepsy & Seizures”, 2016).

There have been studies conducted that show that targeting melatonin receptors may be a novel way of reducing the threshold of seizure propensity. Currently, progabide is an established drug that is used to control epileptic seizures. However, there are no studies conducted that combine both melatonin agonists and GABA agonists together to treat epileptic seizures. Our results showed that there was a decrease in seizure propensity when treating the mice with melatonin and GABA agonists, however, there was an even significant decrease in seizure propensity when these two treatments were combined together. The two-way ANOVA test also revealed that treatment and seizure propensity had a significant difference that was

A seizure is an instantaneous change in behavior provoked by electrical hyper synchronization of neuronal networks in the cerebral cortex. Most seizures can be categorized as either focal or generalized according to whether the onset of electrical activity involves a focal region of the brain or both sides of the brain simultaneously. The clinical manifestations of seizures vary based on the location of the seizure in the brain and the amount of cortex that is involved. Focal seizures are further classified by whether consciousness is altered or not during the event. Types of seizures include, focal seizures with retained awareness: This vary from one person to another, it’s dependent entirely on the part of the cortex that is disrupted at the commencement of the seizure; a seizure that begins in the occipital cortex may result in flashing lights, while a seizure that affects the motor cortex will result in rhythmic jerking movements of the face, arm, or leg on the side of the body opposite to the involved cortex also called Jacksonian seizure, a seizure that begins in the parietal cortex may cause distortion of spatial perception, and a seizure that begins in the dominant frontal lobe may cause sudden speech difficulties. The symptoms

According to Lewis, Dirksen, Heitkemper and Bucher, in the United States, it is estimated that more than 3 million people have active epilepsy, with 200,000 new cases diagnosed each year (2014, p. 1419). This is why it is an important disease to understand. According to Lewis et

Sleep is one of the unavoidable daily-living activities and it is one of the most important factors contributing to a person’s health. A quality sleep is essential for the physical, cognitive and psychological well-being of a person. Learning, memory processing and maintenance of the brain are among the most important functions of sleep. In addition to maintaining the brain, sleep has important roles in controlling the

Many disorders and diseases can result from abnormal sleeping patterns that are triggered from sleep deprivation. The most common forms of sleep disorders include insomnia, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and narcolepsy (NINDS 10). All of these sleep disorders begin from sleep deprivation and can be managed once they are diagnosed correctly. According to Urban, “Nervousness, dizziness, and sleeplessness may occur”, as a result of sleep deprivation (1). This proves that the slightest health changes can occur if sleep deprivation becomes a problem. According to NINDS, “The disorders and the resulting sleep deprivation interfere with work, driving, and social activities” (10). This shows that the effects of being sleep deprived can drastically change one’s everyday

Sleepwalking occurs during stages 3 and 4 of the sleep cycle, the deepest levels of sleep. This slow-wave sleep is normally characterized by synchronized EEG activity (4). This indicates that mental activity is very low during these stages of sleep. However researchers have shown that the EEG of a sleepwalker has diffuse, rhythmic, high-voltage bursts of delta activity associated with abrupt motor activity (1). This is very different from the EEG activity normally associated with slow-wave sleep. In addition to the EEG results, they found that there is a decrease in regional cerebral blood flow in the frontopariental cortices during sleepwalking (1). This indicates that sleepwalking is a dissociated state consisting of motor arousal and persisting mind sleep, which seems to arise from the selective activation of thalamocingulate circuits and the persisting inhibition of other thalamocortical arousal systems (3).

Neurological issues can include sleep problems and seizures. Approximately 25% of diagnosed individuals experience seizures (3), which can usually be well controlled with standard medical intervention (4). Neuroimaging has shown characteristic features such as enlarged ventricles at the basal cisterns, undergrowth of the brainstem and cerebral vermis, and atrophied white matter especially in the frotal lobes. High pain tolerance caused by problems with peripheral neuropathy have also been reported (4).