Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The term seizure threshold is used to describe the balance between excitatory (glutaminergic) and inhibitory (GABA-ergic) forces in the brain which affect how susceptible a person is to seizures. Those diagnosed with epilepsy or certain other neurological conditions are more vulnerable to seizures if the threshold is reduced, and should be ...
Antipsychotics are not recommended for benzodiazepine withdrawal (or other CNS depressant withdrawal states) especially clozapine, olanzapine or low potency phenothiazines, e.g., chlorpromazine as they lower the seizure threshold and can worsen withdrawal effects; if used extreme caution is required. [148]
Pentylenetetrazol has been used experimentally to study seizure phenomena and to identify pharmaceuticals that may control seizure susceptibility. For instance, researchers can induce status epilepticus in animal models. Pentylenetetrazol is also a prototypical anxiogenic drug and has been extensively used in animal models of anxiety.
Therefore, almost all new epilepsy drugs are initially approved only as adjunctive (add-on) therapies. Patients whose epilepsy is uncontrolled by their medication (i.e., it is refractory to treatment) are selected to see if supplementing the medication with the new drug leads to an improvement in seizure control.
Primidone is an anticonvulsant of the barbiturate class; [7] however, its long-term effect in raising the seizure threshold is likely due to its active metabolite, phenobarbital. [10] The drug’s other active metabolite is phenylethylmalonamide (PEMA). Primidone was approved for medical use in the United States in 1954. [7]
A seizure may increase the likelihood that more seizures will occur; an old saying in epilepsy research is "seizures beget seizures". [1] Repeated stimulation "lowers the threshold" for more seizures to occur. [4] The brains of experimental animals are repeatedly stimulated, usually with electricity, to induce the seizures. [1]
[1]: 1885 [96] However, drugs that are known to cause toxicity in combination with ECT, such as lithium, are discontinued, and benzodiazepines, which increase the seizure threshold, [97] are either discontinued, a benzodiazepine antagonist is administered at each ECT session, or the ECT treatment is adjusted accordingly. [1]: 1875, 1879
Methohexital or methohexitone (marketed under the brand names Brevital and Brietal) is a drug which is a barbiturate derivative. It is classified as short-acting, and has a rapid onset of action. [2] It is similar in its effects to sodium thiopental, a drug with which it competed in the market for anesthetics.