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Anticonvulsants are also increasingly being used in the treatment of bipolar disorder [2] [3] and borderline personality disorder, [4] since many seem to act as mood stabilizers, and for the treatment of neuropathic pain. [5] Anticonvulsants suppress the excessive rapid firing of neurons during seizures. [6]
Biological half-life is 10 to 20 hours, and steady-state concentrations are reached after four to five days after start of the treatment. [ 3 ] [ 9 ] Oxcarbazepine, for comparison, is also nearly completely absorbed from the gut, and peak plasma concentrations of licarbazepine are reached after 4.5 hours on average after oxcarbazepine intake.
It is effective as monotherapy and combination therapy with other antiepileptic drugs in the treatment of partial seizure. [6] The American Academy of Sleep Medicine's 2017 clinical practice guidelines recommended against the use of tiagabine in the treatment of insomnia due to poor effectiveness and very low quality of evidence. [7]
Levetiracetam, sold under the brand name Keppra among others, is a novel antiepileptic drug [7] used to treat epilepsy. [8] It is used for partial-onset, myoclonic, or tonic–clonic seizures, [7] and is taken either by mouth as an immediate or extended release formulation or by injection into a vein.
Convulsions are induced in captive animals, then high doses of anticonvulsant drugs are administered. [10] [11] [12] For example, kainic acid can lead to status epilepticus in animals as it is a cyclic analog of l-glutamate and an agonist for kainate receptors in the brain which makes it a potent neurotoxin and excitant. [citation needed]
In 1984, Squires et al. published a report analyzing pentylenetetrazol and several structurally related convulsant drugs. They found that in vivo convulsant potency was strongly correlated to in vitro affinity to the picrotoxin binding site on the GABA-A receptor complex.
Primidone is an anticonvulsant of the barbiturate class; [7] however, its long-term effect in raising the seizure threshold is likely due to its active metabolite, phenobarbital. [10] The drug’s other active metabolite is phenylethylmalonamide (PEMA). Primidone was approved for medical use in the United States in 1954. [7]
Nitrazepam at doses of 5 mg or higher impairs driving skills [33] and like other hypnotic drugs, it is associated with an increased risk of traffic accidents. [34] In the elderly, nitrazepam is associated with an increased risk of falls and hip fractures due to impairments of body balance. [ 35 ]