Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a very common neurological disorder. Some reports estimate that five in one-thousand people suffer from this problem. Throughout history, people with epilepsy have been shunned or considered inferior. Even today, ignorance leads many people to treat the epileptic as "abnormal" or "retarded". Although the etiology of epilepsy is still not fully understood, it is quite treatable due to advances in modern medicine.
Epilepsy is characterized by uncontrolled excessive activity of either a part of, or all of the central nervous system. A person who is predisposed to epilepsy has attacks when the basal level of excitability of the nervous system rises above a certain critical threshold. As long as the degree of excitability is held below this threshold, no attack occurs. Basically, epilepsy can be classified into three major types: grand mal, petit mal, and focal or partial epilepsy.
Grand mal epilepsy is characterized by extreme neuronal discharges in all areas of the brain: in the cortex, in the deeper parts of the cerebrum, and even in the brain stem and thalamus. Also, discharges into the spinal cord cause generalized tonic convulsions of the entire body, followed toward the end of the attack by alternating tonic and then spasmodic muscular contractions called tonic-clonic convulsions. Often the person bites or "swallows" the tongue and usually has difficulty in breathing, sometimes to the extent of developing cyanosis. Also, signals to the viscera frequently cause urination and defecation. The grand mal seizures lasts from a few seconds to as long as three to four minutes and is characterized by post-seizure depression of the entire nervous system; the person remains in stupor for one to many minute...
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Currently, there is a lack of studies in regards to whether or not this therapy causes significant damage to the brain. Correspondingly, there is little research done in regards to how great relapse rates are and how long the treatment can truly last. Consequently, many people have abstained from receiving treatment to avoid any possibility of impairment or reversion. However, it has not been denied nor confirmed that ECT directly causes the aforementioned results. Moreover, many theories created to downplay electroconvulsive therapy’s effectiveness are being brought back into the spotlight, including one that attributes ECT’s success to brain damage. Breggin states, “More recently [Harold] Sackeim and Sackeim with a team of colleagues have covertly revived the principle that a therapeutic response depends upon the degree of brain damage and dysfunction” (par. 17). Although this theory was made to discredit ECT, there has been no research done to disprove its accuracy. Furthermore, because of a lack of research, when a new study such as this comes out, many people believe it right away no matter how erroneous it may actually be. More research on ECT is desperately needed to see if these theories are factual or not. As a result of these truths or fallacies, the therapy can be improved upon
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Epilepsy, also known as “seizure disorder,” or “seizure attack,” is the fourth most common neurological disorder known to mankind, affecting an estimated 2.3 million adults and 467,711 children in the United States. Unfortunately this disorder is becoming far more common and widespread worldwide. This staggering number of cases of people suffering from Epilepsy also involves an average growth rate of 150,000 new cases each year in the United States alone. Generally, many of the people who develop who are a part of the new are mainly either young children or older adults. Your brain communicates through chemical and electrical signals that are all specialized for specific tasks. However, through the process of communication, chemical messengers, also known as neurotransmitters can suddenly fail, resulting in what is known as a seizure attack. Epilepsy occurs when a few too many brain cells become excited, or activated simultaneously, so that the brain cannot function properly and to it’s highest potential. Epilepsy is characterized when there is an abnormal imbalance in the chemical activity of the brain, leading to a disruption in the electrical activity of the brain. This disruption specifically occurs in the central nervous system (CNS), which is the part of the nervous system that contains the brain and spinal cord. This causes an interruption in communication between presynaptic neurons and postsynaptic neurons; between the axon of one neuron, the message sender and the dendrite of another neuron, the message recipient. Consequently, the effects that epileptic seizures may induce may range anywhere from mild to severe, life-threatening ramifications and complications. There are many different types of seizures associa...
Eclampsia describes a condition that causes convulsive seizures after whelping. It is caused by low levels of Calcium, and possibly glucose, in the blood stream. It is characterized by restlessness, panting, nervousness and collapse. “Eclampsia is usually due to an underactive parathyroid gland, the gland that is responsible for regulating the parathyroid hormone, which in turn regulates the...
Almost every day we hear about someone attempting or committing suicide. Whether it is on the internet, television, newspaper, or even by word, suicide is a harsh reality that is overlooked and undermined. According to one online article, “Teen Suicide Statistics,”
In the beginning of the Book Cassius uses anecdotes of Caesar’s weakness and faults, argumentum ad antiquatum, and ethos on Brutus to persuade him to join the conspiracy to kill Caesar, this works on Brutus and shows that anyone, even people as stoic as Brutus, can be persuaded by appealing to their motivations. Cassius, a very suspicious character thru ought the play tells Brutus to “be not jealous on me” (827), in the quote he tells Brutus to not be suspicious of him because he is just a friend who genuinely cares. Cassius does this to put himself on Brutus’ side and not seem like a distant person, this allows him to criticize Caesar and suggest that he is a bad influence on Rome which appeals to Brutus’ desire to keeping Rome safe. After setting himself up as a friend to Brutus, Cassius uses harsh anecdotes on the weakness of Caesar to show that he isn’t fit to rule Rome. Cassius recollects on a time when he and Caesar went swimming in the river Tiber and Caesar screamed “Help me, Cassius or I sink” (828) to de...
Many people with epilepsy usually have more than one type of seizure and may have other symptoms of neurological problems as well. The cause of epilepsy varies by age of the person, but the majority of the time the cause is unknown. Common causes of seizures by age in Elizabeth Otte’s case would be congenital conditions (Down’s syndrome; Angelman's syndrome; tuberous sclerosis and neurofibromatosis), genetics, head trauma, and progressive brain disease which is rare (Schechter & Shafer, Ltd., 2013, p.1). The diagnosis of epilepsy is based on medical history of the patients including family history of seizures. They ask several of questions to figure of what type of seizures the patients could possibly be suffering from. Doctors then preform test such as EEG, take blood, and study images of your brain. Epilepsy is treated by a neurologist specialist that may or may not subscribe medication depending on the severity and frequency of the seizures. Also treatment can be a change in the patients’ diet or
Later, the doctors told me I had epilepsy, specifically the type known as grand mal. Immediately, the doctors put me on some medications to prevent the seizures. They also gave my parents a bunch of packets of information about epilepsy. When I got older, some of those packets informed me that 20-25 million people have suffered from an epileptic seizure. Many people grow out of childhood epilepsy or they take medicine to control it. However, there is still a risk of having a seizure even if you take medication. Over the past few years, I have become increasingly aware of the chance of a seizure at any time.
In William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, two speeches are given to the people of Rome about Caesar's death. In Act 3, Scene 2 of this play Brutus and Antony both try to sway the minds of the Romans toward their views. Brutus tried to make the people believe he killed Caesar for a noble cause. Antony tried to persuade the people that the conspirators committed an act of brutality toward Caesar and were traitors. The effectiveness and ineffectiveness of both Antony's and Brutus's speech to the people are conveyed through tone and rhetorical devices.
Payne, N.A. and Prudic, J. (2009) Electroconvulsive Therapy Part I : A Perspective on the Evolution and Current Practice of ECT Journal of Psychiatric Practice 15(5) pp.346-368
As a leader of the conspiracy to assassinate the great Caesar, Cassius tried to make Brutus join the conspiracy for the sake of many positive aspect follows with him. And that are, Brutus is popular with the commoners and furthermore Brutus’s father was highly respected as much as senators. His personality was cool-headed, which will make conspiracy more harden. At the beginning of the conversation between Cassius and Brutus, Brutus reveals that he is at war with himself regarding Caesar. Revealing his condition enhanced Cassius’s flattering on Brutus saying he is as good as Caesar and that he’s a most honorable man.
Suicide has become one of the many means that problematic individuals take into consideration to exempt from an unpleasant or oppressive situation. Suicide can be generally defined as the act of causing one’s death usually out of despair. People who are likely to commit suicide are those who suffer from severe mental illnesses and are involved with alcohol and drugs. Other than that, individuals who are experiencing unemployment and divorce can also be possible victims to commit such act. Based on the study done in the year 1997, an average of fifteen-percent who are clinically depressed ended up committing suicide. Furthermore, suicide was the eighth leading cause of death in the US (“Suicide”). It is prevalent for depressed individuals to consider suicide when major issues in life do not work out well. The big question is, what makes a person thinks that ending his or her life can help oneself to escape from the reality when life has so much more to offer?