carefully controlled under most circumstances. However, if large
quantities of Ca** enter the cell quickly, the normal regulatory pro-
cesses may lose their grip, and havoc and damage may result.Thus, for multiple reasons, seizures are to be avoided. As stated
earlier, for most epileptics most of the time, antiseizure medications
work. However, a substantial percentage of people having epilepsy
(perhaps as many as 30 percent) find their seizures are not adequately
controlled by the available medications. Pharmaceutical companies
continue to search for new antiseizure medications, hoping to provide
relief for those who may have not responded to the drugs currently
available.
In some cases of severe and nonresponsive seizure disorders,
surgical procedures are carried out to excise small regions of the brain
that have been pinpointed as the source, or initiatory foci, of seizures
—so-called epileptogenic brain tissue. Of course, such surgeries must
be conducted with utmost care and remove no more than the minimal
amount of tissue necessary to control the onset of seizures. These
surgeries have resulted in some interesting discoveries about the
functions of various parts of the human cerebral cortex. We'll return
to some of these in later chapters.
Glutamate, GABA,
brilliantly balanced, just so—
or a fit may flare.