More Understanding on the Causes of Epilepsy and Seizures

Many doctors that deal with epileptic patients will just shake their heads and say that we really do not know what causes seizures and epilepsy. The best reply to this statement would be to ask this particular doctor what they are personally reading to keep up with the rapidly changing world of medical literature. The answer is usually less than ideal.
When it comes to seizures and epilepsy, while there are still some details to work out, the researcher for over a decade has pointed strongly to a problem in the way our brain cells generate energy. In particular, everyone who stayed awake in high school biology class will fondly remember the mitochondria and and the anatomy of a cell. The little "powerhouse of the cell." That little organelle within the cell that helps to generate energy for a cell. And the "energy currency" for every cell is adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. There are some billion or so reactions that occur in our body EVERY SECOND, and each one of these requires a molecule of ATP to get the job done.
Some tissues, like fat, use very little energy. Others, like the heart, our muscles and our brain, use much more. At rest, the nervous system, which includes our brain, is the greatest utilizer of ATP in the body. Once we start moving, the muscles take over and have the greatest need.
Imagine that. As you sit here reading this, your brain is requiring mass amounts of energy just to process the information. So what does this mean? It means that each cell of the nervous system requires thousands of mitochondria just to generate the energy needed for a brain cell just to perform it's basic functions. And each of these mitochondria are little factories churning out ATP for the brain cell to use at an enormous rate. Evidence has been present for several decades now that the protection and nutritional support of the mitochondria needs to be an integral part of avoiding, reducing the severity of and reducing the long term ramifications of migraines and seizures.
If our brain cells become ill through a combination of toxic chemicals in our environment, stress and poor nutrient intake from our diets, they begin to produce less and less ATP. Less ATP and the cell can no longer function the way it is supposed to. It will begin to fire when it is not supposed to. Too much information begins to be passed from one cell to the other. Again and again and again and again. And again. Too much activity in the brain. Uncontrolled, wild messages passing from cell to cell, continually expanding and catching more and more brain cells in the net of too much activity. A seizure.
Current research continues to support this idea behind what causes a seizure. In a recent, study researchers used rats to see if the supplement CoEnzyme Q10 (CoQ10) could have an effect on several factors. CoEnzyme Q10 is an absolutely essential component of the pathway by which our cells (include our neurons) produce energy. It also helps to protect our cells from damage.
There were several interesting findings in this study:
CoQ10 reduced the severity of chemically-induced seizures
CoQ10 reduced the severity of oxidative stress in the animals
CoQ10 actually helped phenytoin (Dilantin) treatment work better at controlling seizures
CoQ10 may have the potential to protect against cognitive impairment caused by chronic phenytoin use
Overall, the results, while based on an animal study, continue to support the idea that mitochondrial dysfunction and the loss of ATP to the brain cell is a critical event in seizures. Anything that we can do to protect or support our mitochondria is good. Anything we do to damage them is bad. Period. Pretty straight forward.
Read more on the CoQ10 study http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1525505011005518
Read more on approaches to protect your brain http://lifecarechiropractic.com/blog/2011/take-this-for-a-bigger-brain/
Dr. Bogash has a passion for understanding physiology, the medical research and how the combination of these two can lower the risk of disease or manage current chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, hypertension, obesity, osteoporosis or heart disease. Visit http://lifecarechiropractic.com/blog/?p=blogroll to sign up for Dr. Bogash's Rantings, a biweekly email that summarizes the daily blog posts related to improving society's health.

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