Epilepsy research
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The present study was aimed to investigate the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on kindling-induced synaptic potentiation and to study the effect of frequency and coil shape on rTMS effectiveness. Seizures were induced in rats by perforant path stimulation in a rapid kindling manner (12 stimulations/day). rTMS was applied at different frequencies (0.5, 1 and 2 Hz), using either figure-8 shaped or circular coils at different times (during or before kindling stimulations). rTMS had antiepileptogenic effect at all frequencies and imposed inhibitory effects on enhancement of population excitatory postsynaptic potential slope and population spike amplitude when applied during kindling acquisition. Furthermore, it prevented the kindling-induced changes in paired pulse indices. ⋯ In addition, the results showed that pretreatment of animals by both coils had similar preventing effect on kindling acquisition as well as kindling-induced synaptic potentiation. Obtained results demonstrated that the antiepileptogenic effect of low frequency rTMS is accompanied with the preventing of the kindling induced potentiation. This effect is dependent on rTMS frequency and slightly on coil-type.
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Comorbid conditions may affect the quality of life in persons with epilepsy (PWE) more than seizures. Using legally mandated healthcare encounter data, somatic, psychiatric, and neurodevelopmental comorbidities in a large population-based cohort of PWE, were compared to persons with migraine (PWM), a similar neurologic condition, and lower extremity fracture (PWLF), otherwise healthy controls. 64,188 PWE, 121,990 PWM, and 89,808 PWLF were identified from inpatient, outpatient, and emergency department from 2000 to 2011. Epilepsy was ascertained with ICD-9-CM code 345; migraine with 346; fracture of the tibia, fibula, and ankle with 823 and 824. ⋯ The absolute risk increase in PWE compared with PWM for any somatic or psychiatric/neurodevelopmental comorbidity was 58.8% and 94.3%, respectively. Identifying comorbidities that are strongly and consistently associated with seizures, particularly disorders with shared underlying pathophysiology, is critical in identifying specific research and practice goals that may ultimately improve the quality of life for PWE. This study contributes to that effort by providing population-based comorbidity data for PWE compared with PWM and PWLF.