What are the Root Causes of Epilepsy? And How Does IV Therapy Help?
Epilepsy is a condition in which brain activity becomes abnormal and most commonly leads to symptoms of seizures. According to the CDC, in 2015 about 3.4 million American have epilepsy of which 470,000 are children. Most treatments for epilepsy rely on pharmaceutical therapies but about 1/3 are unresponsive to medications. There are multiple mechanisms that have been proposed as the cause of epilepsy. In this article I will address two possible causes, oxidative stress and inflammation....
Oxidative stress occurs when our cells burn oxygen for energy. The byproducts of this process are oxygen free radicals which are unstable. These unstable free radicals can cause damage to cellular structures that include the nucleus and DNA and the mitochondria that are actually using the oxygen to create energy. Our cells inherently produce anti-oxidants such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and others, to stabilize these free radicals so that they cannot cause damage. However anti-oxidants are also used when other sources of cellular damage are occurring. These include smoking, UV radiation/sun exposure, and high blood sugar levels.
To overcome increased levels of oxidative stress we need to consume more anti-oxidants. There are many different vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that are anti-oxidants and they can all be found naturally in food. Anti-oxidants have extra electrons that they can donate which essentially stabilizes the free radicals that are missing electrons. Vitamins such as C and E, minerals like selenium and manganese, and nutrients found in berries, tea, vegetables, and dark chocolate are all forms of anti-oxidants that we can consume.
Vitamin C is an extremely important vitamin that serves many functions in the body that include immune and collagen synthesis and repair. Yet it is a very powerful anti-oxidant. Unfortunately humans are incapable of synthesizing vitamin C so it must be obtained through diet. Low amounts are typically recommended for collagen repair and to prevent a condition called scurvy. Yet the requirements for vitamin C during infection or increased levels of oxidative stress are likely much higher. Vitamin C may help to prevent brain injury during seizures. It also has been shown to be neuroprotective. Studies utilizing vitamin E, a fat soluble anti-oxidant, have also shown benefit at reducing seizure frequency and improving EEG findings.
Oxidative stress is a form of inflammation because it is causing damage to cells, but this damage happens to be occurring at the cellular level. At much larger levels of damage, the immune system gets involved. Injury, trauma, and infections are major sources of inflammation. Cytokines such as TNF-alpha are a part of the inflammatory response. Prostaglandins help modulate the cytokine response. Both oxidative stress and inflammation in the central nervous system have been implicated as having a role in epilepsy. Research has shown that both anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory agents can be helpful.
Omega-3 fatty acids from fish and from plant sources such as flax and avocados. Omega-3 is an essential fatty acid that contain EPA and DHA. EPA is anti-inflammatory and DHA is a needed nutrient in brain cells. Unfortunately our bodies cannot make omega-3 so we must obtain it from diet. Studies have shown that consuming 0.6-2g of fish oil per day can reduce seizure frequency and duration. Support of brain health is extremely important not only of epilepsy and seizures, but also for energy, mood, and cognition. Diet, mental health counseling, nutritional therapies, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy can assist in supporting a healthy brain.
The effect of omega-3 fatty acids on clinical and paraclinical features of intractable epileptic patients: a triple blind randomized clinical trial
S Omrani, M Taheri, MD Omrani… - Clinical and …, 2019 - clintransmed.springeropen.com
Effects of Vitamin E on seizure frequency, electroencephalogram findings, and oxidative stress status of refractory epileptic patients
J Mehvari, FG Motlagh, M Najafi… - Advanced biomedical …, 2016 - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Department of Pharmacology, Department of Biomedicine & Health Sciences, Catholic Neuroscience Institute, Institute of Aging and Metabolic Diseases, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
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