Properly diagnosing and treating epilepsy is a very difficult thing to do for most doctors. While there are various techniques offered to help make this easier, a recently updated EEG technique is the latest to get a lot of buzz.
Generally, when diagnosing epilepsy, doctors prefer to use an EEG (electroencephalography). This test involves the recording of the brain’s electrical waves by attaching electrodes to the scalp. While non-invasive, EEG’s are limited in what they can do. For example, you can’t use a lot of electrodes at one time, and this limits how much of the brain is being monitored. Another hard fact of EEGs is that the procedure requires patients to be in the process of a seizure in order to be properly diagnosed. This is why researchers at the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic have found a new way to deal with these problems.
Previous studies have suggested that a certain type of electrical signal (cortical slow wave or CSW) can increase in number once a patient experiences a seizure to their temporal lobe. The Minnesota researchers tried to figure out if keeping track of those signals could help them get better data about individual seizures without having to wait until they had a seizure to do it. That is exactly what they were able to do.
This could go a long way to doctors being able to better diagnose epilepsy, but more importantly, it can go a long way to finding the right treatment for the condition without patients having to suffer through seizures just to gain the right diagnosis. With so many harmful drugs out there, like Topamax, this type of research may actually be able to take away some of the guess-work in prescribing medications. Topamax is an anti-seizure medication that has been proven to cause birth defects in babies whose mothers take the drugs while pregnant. Some of those birth defects include PPHN, spina bifida, oral clefts and neural tube defects. Danzer believes that by locating the cells that cause seizures, better ways of treating them can be developed.
If your child was born with birth defects because of exposure to Topamax, contact attorney Greg Jones today for a free consultation. I am experienced at fighting Topamax lawsuits and may be able to help you recover money for your child’s injuries.