Australia-led study may help find epilepsy earlier
Source: AFP |
April 3, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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AN Australia-led study has identified a gene associated with a common form of epilepsy, possibly leading to earlier diagnosis, a researcher said yesterday.
Melbourne University academic Ingrid Scheffer said a number of genes linked to epilepsy were known to scientists, but these related to rare families in which a large number of members had the condition.
"The reason that this discovery is very important is that it's not just for rare families. We think it will be a gene that will be important for people without a family history," Scheffer said.
"So it's changing the game in terms of being important for a much broader number of people with focal epilepsy."
Focal, or partial, seizures start in one part of the brain and affect the part of the body controlled by that part of the brain.
Scheffer said a clinical diagnosis could not be made for epilepsy without seizures of some kind but the finding could aid genetic counseling and diagnosis - particularly in cases where everything else in the brain is normal.
"And it's also important in terms of genetic counseling for their own children," she said, meaning people would be able to assess the risk for their own offspring if they were found to have the gene.
Melbourne University academic Ingrid Scheffer said a number of genes linked to epilepsy were known to scientists, but these related to rare families in which a large number of members had the condition.
"The reason that this discovery is very important is that it's not just for rare families. We think it will be a gene that will be important for people without a family history," Scheffer said.
"So it's changing the game in terms of being important for a much broader number of people with focal epilepsy."
Focal, or partial, seizures start in one part of the brain and affect the part of the body controlled by that part of the brain.
Scheffer said a clinical diagnosis could not be made for epilepsy without seizures of some kind but the finding could aid genetic counseling and diagnosis - particularly in cases where everything else in the brain is normal.
"And it's also important in terms of genetic counseling for their own children," she said, meaning people would be able to assess the risk for their own offspring if they were found to have the gene.
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