Essay on Drug Help for Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by synchronized excitation of large groups or neuron. To reduce seizures, patients are given drugs that act on the neurotransmitter GABA. How does this type of drug control seizures? Describe seizures and the drug effects on them in terms of synaptic transmission.
This type of drug is very effective in prevetning seizures. A patient being treated for epilepsy is given drugs that act on the neurotransmitter GABA. GABA receptors are inhibitory neurotransmitters. As action potentials open voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, inducing Ca2+ influx, neurotransmitters are released. These neurotransmitters diffuse through the synaptic cleft and bind to receptors in the postsynaptic membrane. The foreign drug given to the patiens either functions to accelerate and increase production and transmission of GABA, an endogenous ligand, or it can possibly even take the place of GABA and bind to the ligand-gated channel on the post-synaptic membrane, and an inhibitory post-synaptic potential is produced. The GABA, or exogenous ligand (drug from the doctor), inhibits the flow of signals to other neurons, preventing seizures.
2. After a car accident, a person is brought to the emergency room with a head injury. What would be the most appropriate imaging technique to assess damage to the brain? Explain your answer and compare your choice to other available tests?
The most appropriate imaging technique to assess damage to the brain after a car accident would be MRI scan. My reasoning for this is that the MRI involves no radiation or injection of radioactive material which may not be a good option to recently injured patients. MRIs are clearer and more detailed than CAT and PET scans. fMRIs are not logical because they are neither common, nor cost effective, and mostly detect brain activity and responses to stimuli. MRIs affect hydrogen atoms which are in all body tissue. In a magnetic field, the hydrogen atoms are positioned parallel to each other and a radio wave triggers them to spin. The movement is translated into an image.