Epilepsy is a disease seen throughout the world that does not have a cure. It costs Americans roughly $15.5 billion a year and two million people in the United States alone have the disease.
Thimmasettapp Thippeswamy, professor in biomedical sciences, is joining the fight to help people with epilepsy by constructing his own research project.
Thippeswamys research is trying to figure out why not all people that have a seizure are diagnosed as epileptic. He has been working on his research since 2005 and uses mice to replicate seizure-like patterns that can be seen in humans.
Although he has not personally been affected by epilepsy, Thippeswamy said his motivation for his research is purely scientific.
Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases that affects [people] worldwide, and it affects all age groups, Thippeswamy said.
Since epilepsy is a nervous system disorder, it can affect animals as well as humans 5 percent of dogs and 3 percent of cats suffer from epilepsy.
While only 1 in 10 Americans will experience a seizure in their lifetime, only 3 percent of them will be diagnosed as an epileptic patient by the time they are 80. Humans are at the most risk for this disease when they are either younger than 2 or over 65.
Because the cause of epilepsy is unknown, there are no current prevention methods. Medication can be prescribed to epileptic patients, but one-third of patients will not respond to drugs.
Thippeswamy hopes to use his research to figure out why some patients do respond to drugs and some patients dont.
For patients that dont respond to treatment, there is another option. Patients could opt to have a surgery called a lobectomy. This surgery would remove the part of the brain that causes the seizures. Like any surgery, there are risks such as paraplegia. The risks would vary based on the part of the brain removed.
Excerpt from:
ISU professor researches epilepsy questions