Posted by Jennifer on May 25, 2000, at 11:38:07
In reply to Re: Looking for a genius, posted by brian on May 25, 2000, at 9:49:15
Brian, I don't have knowledge of any thread on this, but every week I receive a Medscape Pediatrics email update, so I looked there and in another couple of my favorite places for peds info. The articles are pretty full of medical terminology, and I don't know what your background is, so here is where I found them, and my very brief, unprofessional translation. Hope they can help:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed "Neurocognitive attention and behavioral outcome of school-age children with history of febrile convusions: a population study" My translation: They tested 87 kids with a history of febrile seizures (FS) and 87 without history of FS. Acheivement testing, behavioral ratings, neurocognitive testing. This ONE study suggests that FS do not have an adverse effect on behavior or scholastic performance (other psych things not tested). Even those that had used phenobarb did the same.
Same web address: "Retrospective study of late febrile seizures" My translation: They tested 50 people 1-13 years after their seizures. If you had an afebrile (without a fever)seizure before the onset of FS, you were excluded from the test. 5 developed afebrile seizures later on, and 18 had educational difficulties (so do a lot of people without FS). Epilepsy-like EEG abnormalities were seen in 22 of them, but couldn't be linked to seizures later in life. MY CONCLUSION: If they saw EEG abnormalities in 22 of 50 school/teenage kids, and most of these kids didn't go on to have seizures unrelated to fever, then the chances that you have an EEG abnormanlity is about 44%. So all your symptoms, including your FS as a child could all be related to being blessed with good 'ol funky wiring. Ever had an EKG or gone to a neurologist in addition to your pdoc? Might be fun.
www.medscape.com/govmt/NIMH/SchizophreniaBulletin
"Seizures and Schizophrenia" My translation: Immediately ignore the title and go to the facts. Patients with epilepsy (or maybe if you have funky wiring and a history of seizures) develop psychosis OR schizophrentia more than expected. When someone has a seizure disorder and psychosis at the same time, the psychosis almost always follows the onset of the seizures. They listed a time between epileptic seizures and psychosis of 12 to 27 years. I don't know your exact age, but looking at the time you were treated, looks like your age group. Still think a nuerologist visit would be fun! Do you live in an area with good resources for these things? How old are you?Same address: "Long-Term Intellectual & Behavioral Outcomes of Children with Febrile Convulsions" My translation: Same results as the other study above. Tested 398 kids. Results were that children who had FS performed as well as other children in measures of intelligence and behavior at 10 years of age.
OK that's my last one. Hope the information was helpful. I know it's hard when you have something wrong now. You want so badly to tie it to something (in the past or otherwise) so you can tell yourself & others, "I have A because of B and so none of this is my fault" Well, it isn't your wrongdoing, or the wrongdoing of you doctors back in the 70's. People are more complex than we could ever come to realize on this earth. There are so many billions of combinations of genetic information in the world, that there will always be those of us whose "wiring" is a little bit more to the left or right of the middle. This is not under our control. You dealt this because someone knew you had the tenacity to deal with it (like all this research you're doing). You will be blessed with a better life for being able to experience feelings and emotions others do not even realize are out there. With the bad, comes the very good. Keep up with the research. Reply to my questions if you have time, and I'll keep in contact if anything crosses my computer screen. Jennifer
> Thanks Jennifer,
>
> Yea, this happened back in about 72-73, when phenobarbitol was apparently the drug of choice. While the majority of kids with febrile seizures only had one, I had multiple.
>
> Do you know the name of the other thread where you found the info? I'd like to check it out.
>
> -B
>
>
> Brian, Hey I just had some input on that on another thread. Check it out. I'll watch your thread to see how it's going, but basically (1)If they gave you phenobarb, they may have thought that it was more than "febrile seizures" (2) From all my reading, if it really was F.S. then it wouldn't have anything to do with you now...you're just one of the lucky ones like the rest of it that have this crazy stuff. Jennifer
> >
> >
> >
> > > There's a grabber of a headline...
> > >
> > > I was wondering if anyone has any information on the long-term effects (if any) of febrile convulsions. When I was a little guy, I had multiple fever-related convulsions. In fact, I was on phenobarbitol for a while to curb the seizures.
> > >
> > > Anyway, I've found only a tiny amount of information on the subject, ranging from one Finnish study which concludes there is little or no long-term effects, to research that suggests that there could be irreparable damage to certain parts of the brain.
> > >
> > > The reason I'm asking is because I have had anxiety/depression for some time, and I know I was a bit spacey as a kid (OK, I'm a bit spacey now), and I'm wondering if there' any established connection.
> > >
> > > Thanks all
poster:Jennifer
thread:34561
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000517/msgs/34602.html