Browsing by Subject "Seizures"
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Item Heather Malkawi Interview(2021-08-04) Institute for Diversity & Civic Life; Department of Religious StudiesThis interview is with Heather Malkawi, a seminarian studying at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Heather shares the story of her experiences living with and treating her epilepsy, including discerning the choice to pursue seminary and fighting for the legalization of medical marijuana. She talks about how the Texas Freeze kept her from receiving shipments of her medication, putting her at risk of seizures. She also speaks about her experiences volunteering to distribute water and home necessities with her church during the freeze.Item Improving Upon Knowledge, Treatments, and Causes of Neurocardiogenic Syncope, a Genetic Analysis Considering Epilepsy(2023-08) Fein, MatthewThe main topic I am discussing in my thesis writing is surrounding seizure disorders, specifically epilepsy, and the genetic and symptomatic links between epilepsy and neurocardiogenic syncope. My methodology involves examining the known diagnostics, causes, and genetics surrounding Neurocardiogenic Syncope and discovering the reason why such little information exists about the syndrome in the medical world. Through my research, I aim to deeply understand the pathophysiology, genetic basis, and available treatments and diagnoses of each condition, which will uncover new forms and methods of treatment for NCS that target the pre-existing condition, possibly genes or drugs that inhibit the expression of a gene, rather than medicating the symptoms of the disorder. The reason for such disregard in the medical field surrounds the fact that the cause of neurocardiogenic syncope is unclear and there does not exist one consensus on the cause other than certain sensory triggers, along with the multitude of genes that are associated with seizures. The most important part of understanding the relationship between epilepsy and NCS is finding the biochemical or genetic link, if it exists, between seizures and neurocardiogenic syncope, determining the causes, and analyzing viable treatments and improving upon diagnostic techniques.Item Neurocognitive and psychosocial functions in children with frontal and temporal lobe epilepsy(2015-08) Stefanatos, Arianna Kyra; Echols, Catharine H.; Nussbaum, Nancy; Holahan, Charles J.; Tucker, David M.; Church-Lang, Jessica A.A key construct at the foundation of cognitive and clinical developmental neuropsychology is the notion that cognitive functions are localized to specific cortical regions in the brain. Consistent with this, relatively stable cognitive and behavioral profiles have been described for adults diagnosed with the two most common focal-onset seizure disorders. Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is primarily associated with impairments in memory functioning (Bell & Giovagnoli, 2007) and frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) with impairments in executive and motor functioning (Patrikelis et al., 2009). However, the immature brain may be particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of recurrent seizure activity, showing more widespread effects on cognitive processes and brain organization compared to adults (Korman et al., 2013). Despite these observations, few studies have directly compared performance between children with different epilepsy syndromes utilizing broad assessments spanning multiple domains (Williams, Griebel & Dykman, 1998). Consequently, the aim of this study was to evaluate the degree and selectivity of patterns of cognitive and psychosocial dysfunction in children with TLE and FLE. Participants included 51 children between the ages of 6 and 16 years with intractable epilepsy who were consecutively seen for a neuropsychological evaluation through the Dell Children’s Medical Center Comprehensive Epilepsy Program. During this assessment, participants were administered a battery including measures of memory, executive, motor and intellectual functioning. In addition, parents completed questionnaires regarding their child's behavioral and psychosocial functioning. Contrary to the selective patterns of deficits typically described in adults, both the TLE and FLE groups demonstrated significant impairments relative to normative values on each of the domains assessed. Moreover, no significant differences were found between the two patient groups on any of the measures, with the exception of a task of visual memory. These findings suggest that individuals with childhood-onset epilepsy exhibit fairly broad patterns of cognitive compromise that do not differ significantly with frontal lobe versus temporal lobe seizure localization. Furthermore, the range of deficits observed would not normally be expected with analogous seizure disorders acquired in adulthood. These results provide important insights into the organization of cognitive and behavioral functions following early neurological insults associated with epilepsy.Item The Secrets I am Ashamed of(2019) McCullough, Kathryn