Dog senses owner's upcoming seizures

A dog rescued four years ago by a Cumberland County woman now routinely rescues her.
When Jill Snow adopted Charlie, a stray German shepherd-Labrador retriever mix, she was enduring clusters of epileptic seizures. Charlie usually noticed and tried to warn her and other people, she said.

"We started putting together that his behavior was related to my seizures and that he was actually warning me," Snow said. "He can let me know up to a half-hour beforehand that I'm going to have a seizure."

Without any training, Charlie has saved Snow many times.

"I had a seizure one time upstairs in the bathroom where I cracked my head open," she said. "I was able to get to the phone and call 911, but Charlie was the one who came down and let the paramedics in the house."

The dog can chew on a doorknob until he can turn it enough for the door to open, she said.
Once, when Snow collapsed in the front yard, Charlie went door to door until he found some neighbors to help her.

Veterinarians say many dogs sense changes in human behavior, but only two in 1,000 react to them.

"We saved him, and now he saves me," Snow said. "I have my independence, I have my life because of Charlie."

Football player suffers from seizures then end up in coma

A Sequim High School football player remains in intensive care at Harborview Medical Center. Seventeen-year-old Adrien Gault was taken to the Seattle hospital after he went into a coma at Friday night's football game in Sequim.

Gault complained of headaches during the game and was taken out. He then went into seizures and slipped into the coma. Surgeons operated on Gault over the weekend, removing part of his skull to relieve pressure.

Gault has regained consciousness. His family members say he is making eye contact and communicating with them. It's not known how long Gualt will remain in the hospital. Doctors plan to re-attach the part of his skull removed this weekend in about three months.

Football coach ends up in hospital due to seizures

Southern Illinois football coach Jerry Kill was hospitalized Sunday after having a seizure shortly after taping a weekly television show, according to the university.

Tests performed on Kill, 45, at Carbondale Memorial Hospital came back normal, the university reported in a press release, citing his wife, Rebecca. She said her husband was resting comfortably Sunday afternoon and hoped to return to work soon.

The coaching staff will continue to prepare for Southern Illinois’ next game at Missouri State on Saturday, Salukis defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys said.

On Saturday, Western Kentucky (3-4, 3-1 Gateway Conference) beat Southern Illinois (5-2, 2-2) 27-24 in Carbondale.

The sixth-year head coach had a seizure a year ago during a game against Illinois State and returned to the sidelines a week later. Kill was later diagnosed with kidney cancer.

The sports information director at SIU told the school’s student newspaper, the Daily Egyptian, that doctors have not established a link between the cancer and the seizures.

CINCINNATI 23, S. FLORIDA 6

At Cincinnati, Kevin McCullough returned a fumble 39 yards for a touchdown, and Greg Moore and Butler Benton had touchdown runs in the fourth quarter to lead Cincinnati Sunday night.

Neither offense reached the end zone until the fourth, when Moore’s 1-yard run and Benton’s 27-yard score helped the Bearcats (4-4, 1-2 Big East) take a 23-0 lead.

The Bulls (5-3, 1-2) avoided a shutout on backup quarterback Pat Julmiste’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Amp Hill with 50 seconds remaining.

Michigan jumps USC for second in BCS standings. Michigan slipped in front of Southern California into second-place in the Bowl Championship Standings, but there is no reason for the Trojans to worry.

USC is still a solid No. 3 behind first-place Ohio State and Michigan. And with the Buckeyes and Wolverines slated to meet on Nov. 18 in Columbus, Ohio, the Trojans remained in good shape to secure a spot in the BCS championship game with an undefeated regular season.

The BCS title game will played Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz.

Pirates look like a different team with Allison back. With Aundrae Allison back in the lineup, East Carolina looked like a different team against SMU. Coach Skip Holtz is hoping that will help the Pirates get through a tough stretch to close the regular season.

Allison had a career-best 13 catches for 138 yards and a touchdown in the Pirates’ 38-21 victory against SMU, giving the senior wideout a successful return from the ankle injury that sidelined him for the past two games.

A way to pinpoint seizures

When medications don't work for epilepsy patients, surgery to remove a portion of the brain is often the only option to stop crippling seizures.

But first, doctors need to know exactly where a seizure is happening.

Now new technology is making that much easier.

Pinpointing Seizures

This cap is going to tell doctors exactly where Dawn Helton's seizures are happening in her brain. She's struggled with them for four years.

"I'm scared but excited cause I want them to find out what's going on," says Dawn.

Dawn's the fifth patient in the world to try the new geodesic sensor net. Electrodes record brain waves around the head and let doctors see the seizures as they happen.

"With this method, we might be able to find out where the seizures are coming from exactly and then go right to the operation to take out that area," says Dr. John Miller, a neurologist at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.

The hope is the cap will be used instead of the current invasive method -- where surgeons place electrodes directly on the brain before removing the problem area.

Old systems only used 25 electrodes. This new one uses 256. It can pinpoint the correct area of the brain within two centimeters. Dawn's hoping the precision will pay off for her -- and her boyfriend.

"Let's find it. Let's do it. Let's stop these seizures," she's told during a session.

Because of the seizures, she can no longer work or drive. Sometimes, it's even hard to speak.
"The hoping and sadness of each s-s-s-seizure ... that it's... just wanting it to end," says Dawn.
She hopes what they find today might make the next seizure her last.

An update on dawn -- although the electrodes didn't detect her seizures after eight days of wearing the cap, she's planning on having brain surgery in december.

Dr. Miller says dawn's case is rare.

The cap has worked for nearly all of the patients who have used it -- about 20 so far.

Could sugar substitute stop seizures?

A sweet compound called 2DG could be a key ingredient in stopping and preventing seizures.
The compound, which doctors have used in medical scanning and cancer imaging for many years, may one day be used to treat patients with epilepsy. In a study at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, researchers used 2DG to prevent epileptic seizures in lab rats.

Nearly 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy. For more than 20 million people with the neurological disease, existing surgeries and treatments are not effective in preventing seizures. 2DG may provide some help for these patients.

"What we hope is that by using 2DG, we can prevent one seizure from setting up the events in the brain that would cause subsequent seizures," study author Avtar Roopra, Ph.D., of University of Wisconsin in Madison, told Ivanhoe.

SUGAR SWAP

One way 2DG can prevent seizures is by serving as a sugar replacement. According to Dr. Roopra, sugar's link to seizures has a deep history.

"For 2,000 years or more, starving people was a treatment for epilepsy. And nobody really knew how it worked," said Dr. Roopra. "Since the time of Hippocrates in 450 B.C., it was known if you starve people with epilepsy, the seizure intensity and frequency goes down."

In the early 1900s, doctors recommended ketogenic diets -- which are high in fat and protein and low in carbohydrates, Dr. Roopra said. And they seemed to help epilepsy patients avoid seizures.
"When you take the sugar away from the diet, genes in the brain that normally promote epilepsy shut down," said Dr. Roopra. "By shutting down genes in the brain that promote epilepsy, we can actually stop epilepsy from progressing."

The only problem with a ketogenic diet is it can be very difficult for patients to avoid sugar. This is particularly problematic for children, who may sneak away to eat sweet and starchy foods, ruining the effects of the sugar-free diet.

This is where Dr. Roopra hopes 2DG can come in.

"We think 2DG might be an effective sugar substitute in humans," Dr. Roopra said. "That would be great news because patients could eat normal food and have the same beneficial effects."

Effects of seizures and brain injury

In a finding that may provide a scientific basis for eventual treatment, neurology researchers have shown that traumatic brain injury reduces the level of a protein that helps keep brain activity in balance. The resulting abnormal activity, in turn, is thought to be an underlying reason for seizures and memory defects experienced by people who have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

"A traumatic brain injury occurs to someone in the United States every 23 seconds," said study team leader Akiva S. Cohen, Ph.D., of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, adding that, "TBI is the leading cause of death among children and young adults in this country. There are no cures known for traumatic brain injury. Our hope is that our research may contribute to potential therapies for TBI patients."

Transportation accidents such as car crashes are responsible for the majority of TBIs in people under age 75. According to the National Institutes of Health, over 5 million Americans currently have permanent disabilities resulting from TBIs.

The study, which was done in animals, appears in the journal Neurobiology of Disease, published online on Oct. 10.

Using mice, the researchers showed for the first time that TBI reduces the levels of a protein called potassium-chloride co-transporter 2 (KCC2) within a portion of the brain called the dentate gyrus. The dentate gyrus controls overactivity from reaching seizure-prone brain cells further along the circuit.

The dentate gyrus is a gatekeeper in maintaining a balance between two systems of neurotransmitters in the brain: the glutamate system and the gamma-aminobutyric acid system, abbreviated GABA(A). Glutamate stimulates neurons to fire, while GABA(A) inhibits that activity. "When lower levels of the KCC2 transporter weaken the dentate gyrus's ability to act as a gatekeeper," said Dr. Cohen, "neurons become more excitable, and seizures can occur."

In addition to its role in inhibiting seizures, the dentate gyrus is also believed to be important in memory formation. Therefore, said Dr. Cohen, "Interfering with normal function in the dentate gyrus may impair memory formation--especially antegrade memory, the ability to learn new things." Epileptic seizures and impaired memory are two of the disabilities caused by TBI.

Further animal studies, said Dr. Cohen, will investigate whether supplying KCC2 directly to the dentate gyrus will restore normal functioning in that structure, and whether it may improve symptoms in brain-injured mice. If this proves to be the case, the protein may someday be used as a medical treatment for patients with TBI.

Jealous teen causes seizures in 10 months old baby

West Palm Beach · Carl Soto was jealous of the attention his girlfriend's baby was getting, so he suffocated the 10-month-old boy several times to the point of seizures, police said.Police arrested Soto, 19, after calling him Saturday to St. Mary's Medical Center, where his girlfriend's son underwent tests for a seizure condition police said Soto created in an apparent case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

The baby has no permanent damage. Police charged Soto with aggravated child abuse."He was the only person who would see the onset of the seizures," Detective Lori Colombino said.Soto told police the seizures began after the baby, whose name was not released, got his six-month shots. But police said the seizures began shortly after Soto moved in with the baby's mother about five months ago. The baby would grunt, sweat, shake, foam at the mouth, and his eyes would roll to the back of his head, police said.

Even as they got ready for a doctor's appointment, Soto struck again, police said."He's doing it again," Soto yelled to the baby's mother, according to a police report.Another time, the baby's grandmother had to revive him.The baby continued to have seizures while in the hospital for several days. Nurses grew suspicious and removed the curtain from the room. Though cameras in the room were on, Soto moved them to suffocate the baby again, police said.The baby's mother said she once saw Soto place his thumb under the baby's chin, forcing his mouth to close. He then pinched the baby's nose and counted to 10, she said, adding that she then hit Soto.

He said that's the way to make a baby stop crying, police said."She was very naïve to the fact it was him," Colombino said.The baby is now in the custody of the Department of Children and Families. Soto, who state records show has been arrested in the past on aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery charges, remains in the county jail with bail set at $3,000.

Dr. John Wright, of the child protection team of Broward County, said suffocation to cause seizures is one form of Munchausen syndrome by proxy."There are people who do this for a number of reasons," he said. "Maybe that person is just homicidal and wants to make it look like natural causes."Colombino said the baby's seizures have disappeared since Soto's arrest. "He was the cutest little boy," she said. "Active, smiling, happy. He'll be just fine though."

The Geodesic EEG, a useful tool

About 125,000 new cases of epilepsy are diagnosed every year.

Epilepsy is a neurological condition that produces brief disturbances in the normal electrical functions of the brain. For more than 80 years, the most effective treatment for people with epilepsy has been use of seizure-preventing medications called anticonvulsants or antiepileptic drugs.

While the medications do not cure epilepsy, they make it possible for many people to live normal lives. If the drugs are not effective, other treatment methods may be used. Surgery may be recommended for some people, or treatment with a vagal nerve stimulator that delivers electrical signals to the brain through the vagal nerve may be made available to the patient.

In order to treat an epilepsy patient with surgery, doctors must be able to pinpoint the location of the electrical disturbance causing the seizures.

"Locating where seizures begin is critical for treating epilepsy," Dr. John Miller, director of the University of Washington Regional Epilepsy Center at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said.
WATCH THE VIDEO

Pinpointing seizuresNew technology helps doctors pinpoint the origin of seizures.

This is important because there is a small group of patients with epilepsy who don't respond to medication.

"The idea is to do these tests, EEGs and other tests to find out where the problem is and see if that region of the brain that is causing the trouble can be removed by a neurosurgeon," Miller said.
The new Geodesic EEG (electroencephalogram) system makes it easier for physicians to pinpoint seizures. The new system is a non-invasive way to accurately locate and map seizures as they happen, thus reducing the need for surgical brain monitoring. With traditional surgical monitoring, electrodes must be placed on the brain's surface. This requires drilling into or removing areas of the skull. With the Geodesic EEG system, there is no need for this.

"It's a different kind of device that records from 256 channels, and not just on the top of the head, but also all around the head," Miller said. "The purpose of it is to define very precisely where in the brain electrical activity comes from. The idea is to record the brain waves from a person and then run a special computer program to calculate the area of the brain producing the signal."

EEG sensors are arranged in a Web-like structure and placed on the head. The trick is to monitor the patient at the time they experience a seizure. Older methods were maybe able to determine which side of the brain the seizure is coming from and possibly an approximate location of the seizure area.

"With this device, if we could capture a seizure, we can identify it, localize the seizure within a centimeter or two of where the seizure is coming from, so it's far more precise," Miller said.

The hope is doctors might be able to find out where the seizure is coming from exactly with the Geodesic EEG and skip that extra surgery where surgeons implant electrodes directly into the brain.

"Right now, we're not at the point of being able to do that. Right now, we're validating the technique and demonstrating how precise and how accurate the results are," Miller said.

New compound can be used to treat Epilepsy

A new study suggests that a sweet-tasting compound called 2DG has great potential as a treatment for epilepsy.

2DG (2-deoxy-glucose) has long been used in radio labeling, medical scanning and cancer imaging studies in humans. But now researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found the substance also blocks the onset of epileptic seizures in laboratory rats.

"We pumped the rats full (of 2DG) and still saw no side effects," said senior author Avtar Roopra, an assistant professor of neurology. "I see 2DG as an epilepsy management treatment much like insulin is used to treat diabetes."

Many of the consequences of seizures observed in humans have also been observed in rats, making them a good model to study.

About 1 percent of the world's population suffers from epilepsy, a neurological condition that makes people susceptible to seizures. In about 30 percent to 50 percent of epilepsy patients, available treatments -- including the removal of parts of the brain's temporal lobe -- are largely ineffective.

Roopra described a snowball effect of seizures and explained how 2DG prevents seizures from occurring.

"When you have a seizure, genes are altered in a way that another seizure is more likely," Roopra told United Press International. "A seizure begets more seizures."

The study suggests that by taking 2DG, a person suffering from epilepsy can reduce their risk of having subsequent seizures.

While this seems to imply that 2DG is powerless to prevent an initial seizure from occurring, Roopra told UPI researchers believe that further experimentation with 2DG may prove that the compound "can actually be used to prevent a first seizure."

The 2DG blocks glycolysis from occurring by entering cells and clogging up certain cellular enzymes. As a result, the body can't use its own glucose.

Glucose -- a type of sugar -- has long been established as a cause of seizures. Recognizing this cause, doctors have prescribed sugar-free diets as a way to prevent seizures for thousands of years.

"The fact that a sugar-free diet can treat seizures has been known since biblical times," Roopra said. "People with epilepsy would be advised to effectively starve themselves and would be given nothing but water."

People suffering from epilepsy are often still prescribed a sugar-free diet as a means of combating their condition. However, adhering to a sugar-free diet can be difficult because of the risk of nutritional deficiencies and the extreme vigilance necessary for the diet to be effective.
Experiments have shown that children on sugar-free diets can rapidly experience seizures when they consume even a small dose of sugar, such as a cookie or a small piece of bread.

Thus, 2DG may have the potential to treat epilepsy without subjecting people to the challenges of a sugar-free diet.

"2DG would be taken on top of ingesting regular amounts of sugar," Roopra said. "The compound shuts down genes involved in epilepsy itself."

Although the compound has been injected into rats, Roopra said that humans would be able to ingest the compound orally. In fact, because of its sweet taste, he suggests that epileptics could simply pour some 2DG into their coffee or tea.

Despite the promise of 2DG, Roopra estimates that it will be five years before the compound is available for human use. It needs to be subjected to toxicity studies and clinical trials before it can receive FDA approval and be made available to the public.

Prosecutor with seizures history was caught on tape

A city prosecutor in Ohio has been arrested and charged with two counts of indecency after security cameras caught him walking around government offices naked after hours. The man is Scott Blauvelt, 35, was arrested and released to await hearing in a court that resides in the building that he usually works.

Blauvelt was alone while naked in the buildings and no one is really sure why he did not have his clothes on but his lawyer says that his client was seriously injured in a 2005 car accident, suffers from mental illness and is on medication for seizures. If convicted on the charges, Blauvelt faces a month in jail and a $250 fine.

Man hit by train suffered from seizures

A Fairfield pedestrian was stuck and killed Friday by a train.

Roberto Bautista Morales, 39, was hit around 5:50 p.m. in the area of Railroad Avenue and Village Drive. Police said a medical condition could have contributed to the incident.

"Preliminary information received indicates that the victim suffers from undiagnosed seizures and may have suffered an attack when crossing the railroad tracks," according to a police statement.
Witnesses told police they saw Morales lying on the tracks just before he was struck by the train. Medical personnel pronounced him dead at the scene.

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

Boy faces rare type of Epileptic seizures

It’s so much more than a simple story of a boy and his dog. For one thing, the boy doesn’t have the dog yet. And for another, the dog could keep him from falling into a coma, or worse.

The boy is Eoin (pronounced "Owen") Robertson, a 10-year-old student at the Bresnahan School with a rare form of epilepsy that produces uncontrollable seizures.

The dog will be trained by professionals to assist Eoin, but it costs money, $12,000 to be exact. Phase 1 is getting the funds. And that’s where the Bresnahan Caring Community comes in. Every year for the past four years the Bresnahan School has organized a walk to support families in need. This year the focus of the fund-raiser is Eoin and his dog.

"Goin’ for Eoin" is the name of the fourth annual walk, which is generically known as Kids Walking for Kids. His parents were just getting into their investigation of an assistance dog when Eoin mentioned the topic to his full-time aide, Patty Reardon.

Patty told Eoin’s dad, Ken Robertson, who happens to be one of the organizers of the Bresnahan Caring Community. Faster than you can say "Eoin Robertson," he became the focus of the fund-raiser.

"Everyone has been so incredible," Ken says.

Getting the money for the dog will kick the process into high gear, he adds. 4 Paws for Ability, the Ohio organization that will provide the dog, will not start training Eoin’s future companion until the money is in the bank.

Phase Two of the process is getting to Ohio. Eoin and his parents will have to spend 10 days there once the dog is trained so they, too, can be trained.

Eoin has 15 to 18 major (grand mal) seizures per month, say his parents. Mostly they occur at night. Seizure assistance dogs are trained to recognize the subtle changes in scent that happen during a seizure and they react in a variety of ways.

One is alerting others in the home that a seizure is occurring - Eoin can stop breathing during his grand mal seizures. Currently, the Robertsons on Dexter Street have a baby monitor from Eoin’s room to theirs. Dogs are also trained to remove pillows and other heavy bedding from around the person who is seizing, thereby removing the potential threat of suffocation.

Eoin had his first seizure when he was just 3 months old. In spite of numerous medical consultations, implantation of a vagus nerve stimulator in his chest and no fewer than 10 different anti-seizure medications, the seizures have never been controlled.

The dog will also be trained to track Eoin, who, although he is never left alone, tends to wander off in unguarded moments. In the best circumstance (but one which is not guaranteed), the dog will alert to an impending seizure.

"It’s just one more layer of security for Eoin," says Cynthia.

Eoin sleeps attached to a blood/oxygen monitor and a heart monitor. Another vigilant presence will also allow her and Ken to sleep a little easier.

"It would be great if we could just hit it out of the park with just this one event," Ken says.

But neither he nor Cynthia has any idea how long it will take to raise the $12,000. The 4 Paws for Ability organization does provide fund raising ideas for families.

Although Eoin is developmentally behind for his age due to oxygen deprivation to his brain, he sits with his fellow fourth graders in class (with his aide) in addition to being in a special education class. He suffers small seizures throughout the day.

The presence of this canine pal will mean a lot to him emotionally, his parents say. Eoin can’t wait for his dog, and he’s also really looking forward to the fund-raiser, which he calls "the dog parade."

Bresnahan students, parents and others will be Goin’ for Eoin on October 20 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Bresnahan field. All of the donations will go to 4 Paws for Ability to get Eoin his dog as quickly as possible. Donations can also be dropped off at the main office at The Bresnahan School. Checks should be made out to the Bresnahan Caring Community Fund.

New technology could both predict and stop seizures

Approximately one-fourth of people with epilepsy can't be treated. Their seizures continue disrupting their lives, while others with the disorder respond to either medication or surgery. Now, scientists are exploring new ways to predict seizures and stop them before they start.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia are studying how to predict when a seizure will happen in the hopes that treatments, like implanted brain stimulators, will stop the seizure from happening.

Brian Litt, M.D., says the current surgical treatments for difficult-to-control epilepsy may one day be outdated. Currently, the focal area of seizure activity is mapped and then removed in certain patients who do not respond to medication. While this is effective in many cases, Dr. Litt believes there may be a better way.

Dr. Litt and his colleagues developed new ways to program devices to recognize the beginning of a seizure. These devices, like the Neuropace Responsive Neuro Stimulator, would essentially zap the brain back into a normal mode of behavior. The secret is to give the treatment in enough time to stop the cascade of events that lead to a full-blown seizure. The results of a small trial of 50 patients revealed this technique reduced seizures by half in 43 percent of the patients.

Dr. Litt told Ivanhoe more research needs to be done before a new treatment would be available to the public. However, the discovery that some types of seizures develop over minutes, even hours, before a seizure is apparent has led researchers in a new direction of epilepsy research, which could lead to more effective seizure control.

Seperated twins recovering from seizures

After a temporary setback caused by seizures they both suffered almost two weeks ago, the twin boys from Sheboygan who underwent surgery Sept. 6 to separate their spinal cords are again making medical progress that could lead to their discharge from the hospital in several weeks.

The seizures — which caused their eyes to jerk and movement of their arms and legs — stopped after their medication was increased, according to Dr. Billie Short, head of the neonatal unit at Children's National Medical Center.

Short said the parents, Ryan Shaw and Angie Benzschawel, "are doing real well,'' although the seizures the boys suffered were a setback for the parents because they are preparing to bring them home.

The twins remain on track for possible discharge between Halloween and Thanksgiving, she said.

New info on seizures!

A seizure is a sudden disruption of the brain's normal electrical activity accompanied by altered consciousness and/or other neurological behavior.Eugene, Oregon, October 7, 2006 -- There are more than 20 different seizure disorders.

One in ten Americans will have a seizure at some time, and at least 200,000 have at least one seizure a month."Most seizures are benign, but a seizure that lasts a long time can lead to status epilepticus, a life-threatening condition characterized by continuous seizures, sustained loss of consciousness, and respiratory distress.

Non-convulsive epilepsy can impair physical coordination, vision, and other senses. Undiagnosed seizures can lead to conditions that are more serious and more difficult to manage.--

Types of Seizures--

---- Generalized

----A generalized tonic-clonic (grand-mal) seizure begins with a loud cry before the person having the seizure loses consciousness and falls to the ground. The muscles become rigid for about 30 seconds during the tonic phase of the seizure and alternately contract and relax during the clonic phase, which lasts 30-60 seconds. The skin sometimes acquires a bluish tint and the person may bite his tongue, lose bowel or bladder control, or have trouble breathing.

--- Primary Generalized Seizure

---A primary generalized seizure occurs when electrical discharges begin in both halves (hemispheres) of the brain at the same time. Primary generalized seizures are more likely to be major motor attacks than to be absence seizure."

-- Symptoms & Causes

--The origin of 50-70% of all cases of epilepsy is unknown. Epilepsy is sometimes the result of trauma at the time of birth. Such causes include insufficient oxygen to the brain; head injury; heavy bleeding or incompatibility between a woman's blood and the blood of her newborn baby; and infection immediately before, after, or at the time of birth.

Other causes of epilepsy include:

* Head trauma resulting from a car accident, gunshot wound, or other injury.

* Alcoholism.

* Brain abscess or inflammation of membranes covering the brain or spinal cord.

* Phenylketonuria (PKU, a disease that is present at birth, is often characterized by seizures, and can result in mental retardation) and other inherited disorders.

* Infectious diseases like measles, mumps, and diphtheria.

* Degenerative disease.

* Lead poisoning, mercury poisoning, carbon monoxide poisoning, or ingestion of some other poisonous substance.

* Genetic factors.