Biology 202
2002 Second Paper
On Serendip

I decided to write about this topic because it is something that effects my family directly. My sister is a victim of a disease called Rett Syndrome which causes her to have intense seizures. She is seventeen now and has had seizures her whole life. Having faced these for many years now, my parents have been through lots of different types of medications to help treat and control her seizures. The newest type of medication is Valium and so I though that I would take this opportunity to learn more about it and its effect on seizures.

First off, it is important to understand what a seizure is. A seizure is caused by abnormal discharge of electric stimulation in the brain. They may also be caused by salt imbalances in the blood, gastrointestinal disease, poisoning, head injury, brain disease such as a tumor, a malformed blood vessel, or anything that causes sudden lack of oxygen to the brain.((1).) Seizures are also grouped into different categories depending on how severe they are and also depending on which part of the brain is effected. For example, if the entire brain is involved it is a generalized seizure as opposed to if only a portion of the brain is effected and in that case the seizure is a partial seizure. ((2).) There are two types of partial seizures, simple partial and complex partial. There are also two types of generalized seizures, generalized absence (petit mal) and tonic-clonic (grand mal). The seizures that my sister has are tonic-clonic or grand mal, which are considered the most severe type of seizure to have. With a tonic-clonic seizure, there are two phases. In the tonic phase, the person loses consciousness and falls, as the body grows rigid. In the clonic phase, body extremities jerk and twitch. After the seizure, consciousness returns slowly. ((2).)

Over the years, my sister has been through various different medications whose intent was to control her seizure activity. A new type of treatment that her neurologist suggested trying is Valium (Diazepam). Valium is a drug that effects the limbic, thalamic and hypothalamic regions of the central nervous system. ((3).) Valium slows the central nervous system and is used to treat anxiety related disorders and conditions that cause severe muscle spasms and convulsions. ((4).) Valium is administered rectally. Liquid Valium is absorbed fast from the rectum. The effect should take place 5-15 minutes after the injection.((3).) Valium should not be used on a daily basis because it can cause withdraw and it also has many other side effects.

My sister has her seizures in clusters. When she has them she will usually have about five or six seizures over the course of two or three days. Because her seizures come in clusters, her neurologist thought that Valium may help stop or at least decrease the intensity or frequency of her seizures. The last time two times that she had seizures, my mom rectally gave her the Valium and my mom thought that the Valium did have an effect. She said that once she gave her the Valium that the seizures went away, but that my sister was very tired and it took her two or three days to regain her strength, but those two or three days were seizure free. My parents have had many discussions about whether
They should continue to use the Valium and for right now they are going to continue to use it when her seizures come because the Valium did make them stop. We think that because we are not going to use it on a regular basis that her body will not become dependent on it. But as of right now, the Valium is supported by us as a way to treat a tonic-clonic cluster of seizures.

References

SUCCESSIVE REFERENCES, LIKE PARAGRAPHS, SHOULD BE SEPARATED BY BLANK LINES (OR WTIH

, BUT NOT BOTH)

FOR WEB REFERENCES USE THE FOLLOWING, REPEATING AS NECESSARY

1)Seizures, COMMENTS ABOUT IT

2)Types of Seizures, COMMENTS ABOUT IT

3)Treating Cluster Seizures With The Rectal and Oral Valium Protocol, COMMENTS ABOUT IT

4)Valium, COMMENTS ABOUT IT

FOR NON-WEB REFERENCES USE THE FOLLOWING, REPEATING AS NECESSARY

REFERENCE NUMBER) STANDARD PRINT REFERENCE FORMAT


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