Oxidative Stress
DYSFUNCTION AND STRESS CAUSE OF EPILEPTIC SEIZURES – (12-09-04)
MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION AND OXIDATIVE STRESS: CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCE OF EPILEPTIC SEIZURES
Regular readers of the Updates know that I feel oxidative stress and subsequent oxidative stress (or vice versa) is an underlying mechanism for many chronic conditions.
The research supporting the link between mitochondrial dysfunction and seizures is getting stronger, and yet most physicians (neurologists included) are blissfully unaware and still say diet and vitamins have no impact on seizures. That statement alone proves they have not cracked a medical journal in at least the past year.
Here’s the scenario I envision…picture the state of a neuron with poor cellular health. Mitochondria under oxidative stress unable to produce sufficient ATP or too much free radical damage to its own DNA (with poorer repair mechanisms than cellular DNA). We lose ATP in the cell or even loss of the number of mitochondria within the neuron. Couple this with poor quality fats in the cellular membrane and it is not hard to envision a state where the neuron may spontaneously depolarize–the capacitance of the cellular membrane is much reduced and just can’t hold a charge. Seizure activity results. ScienceDirect – Free Radical Biology and Medicine : Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress: cause and consequence of ..
