We exaggerate misfortune and happiness alike. We are never as bad off or as happy as we say we are. ~Honore de Balzac
Epileptic seizures are the most dramatic and prominent aspect of the “alcohol withdrawal syndrome” that happens when a person abruptly stops a long-term drinking habit. Researchers have shown that the flow of calcium ions into brain cells via calcium channels plays an important role in the generation of alcohol withdrawal seizures, because blocking this flow suppresses these seizures. But do the changes in calcium currents contribute to alcohol withdrawal seizures or are they a direct result of the seizures?
Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., found that the enhancement of calcium channels occurs prior to the start of alcohol withdrawal seizures.
The study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health.
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