Epilepsy and autism are both serious medical issues that need to be properly managed by medical professionals in order to minimize the effects of their symptoms. Epilepsy and autism are both lifelong conditions that have no cure available even in the modern medical world. Epilepsy and autism are both disorders that affect the brain and how it functions. Epilepsy and autism are both largely medical mysteries despite an enormous amount of progress that’s been made in recent years. In short, epilepsy and autism have a lot in common, despite the fact that they are two very different medical problems.
However, that final statement could be changing, as researchers in the United Kingdom may have found yet another link between epilepsy and autism, and the findings in their study have at the very least prompted calls for additional analysis of this emerging theory. Those researchers believe that they found a previously unknown link between epileptic seizures and signs of autism in adults, and that finding is creating a swirl of excitement in the medical research community.
Specifically, researchers at the University of Bath conducted a study that revealed that adults with epilepsy were more likely to have higher traits of autism and Asperger syndrome. That link was basically the finding that epileptic seizures will generally disrupt the neurological function inside the brain that tends to affect social functioning. This problem is largely the same one that’s experienced by people with autism.
The researchers looked into a massive number of medical cases where patients had epilepsy and reviewed the data associated with their treatments. What they found was that this data along with the examination of volunteers for the study who had epilepsy all displayed signs of autism. These signs included very common symptoms including difficulty with social interaction and being prone to repetitive thoughts or actions.
Generally when this type of link is found, it leads to the improvement in the treatment of one of the conditions or the other. However, the researchers who completed this study believe that this finding could actually improve the treatment for both conditions, as adults with epilepsy who display signs of autism could be granted access to better and more direct forms of treatment that are designed to deal with autism as well as epilepsy.
The study could also lead to additional treatments and help for children who are diagnosed with autism, as the portion of the brain that is affected by these conditions has been pinpointed and will most likely now be the target of additional analyses and studies. Hopefully these additional efforts will lead to more learning and more results that lead to better treatments.
Working as New York medical malpractice lawyers for 41 years has provided us with the opportunity to represent many different people who suffered from brain-related problems because of mistakes that were made during birth. The team at The Fitzgerald Law Firm hopes that this study opens the door to new approaches that help people live better and happier lives.