Monday, May 24, 2004
Doctors Put Hope in Thin Wires for a Life in Epilepsy's Clutches
Despite daily doses of several medicines, Mr. Neiley, like a third of the 2.3 million Americans with epilepsy, still has seizures. Small ones, which jolt his body briefly, can strike 20 to 30 times a day. Twice a week or so, without warning, he collapses into full-fledged, grand mal convulsions that can last several minutes and leave him confused, dead tired and frightened.
...
But behind the cheer is a life dismantled by illness. Ten years ago he was a successful building contractor in Southern California, married, with three sons. Then one night in a restaurant, he opened his mouth to speak and what came out was gibberish. It was his first seizure. That moment marked the end of one life and the beginning of another.
"Epilepsy is the most elusive and most treacherous of neurological diseases, because of its intermittency, and also the cruelest, because you never know when it is going to strike next," said Dr. Ivan Osorio, a neurologist at the University of Kansas and a researcher in the Medtronic trial. He likened a seizure to a fire spreading through the brain.
...
He has contemplated getting a "seizure-alert dog" trained to watch over people having seizures and to bring them medicine or a telephone. Some research suggests that the dogs can even alert their owners when they are about to have a seizure, perhaps by detecting a change in body odor. ...
Despite daily doses of several medicines, Mr. Neiley, like a third of the 2.3 million Americans with epilepsy, still has seizures. Small ones, which jolt his body briefly, can strike 20 to 30 times a day. Twice a week or so, without warning, he collapses into full-fledged, grand mal convulsions that can last several minutes and leave him confused, dead tired and frightened.
...
But behind the cheer is a life dismantled by illness. Ten years ago he was a successful building contractor in Southern California, married, with three sons. Then one night in a restaurant, he opened his mouth to speak and what came out was gibberish. It was his first seizure. That moment marked the end of one life and the beginning of another.
"Epilepsy is the most elusive and most treacherous of neurological diseases, because of its intermittency, and also the cruelest, because you never know when it is going to strike next," said Dr. Ivan Osorio, a neurologist at the University of Kansas and a researcher in the Medtronic trial. He likened a seizure to a fire spreading through the brain.
...
He has contemplated getting a "seizure-alert dog" trained to watch over people having seizures and to bring them medicine or a telephone. Some research suggests that the dogs can even alert their owners when they are about to have a seizure, perhaps by detecting a change in body odor. ...
Comments:
Post a Comment
| Get a hit counter here. |
