Seizure Disorder / Depression
Seizures are a common, nonspecific manifestation of neurologic injury and disease. This should not be surprising because the main function of the brain is the transmission of electrical impulses. The lifetime likelihood of experiencing at least one epileptic seizure is about 9%, and the lifetime likelihood of receiving a diagnosis of epilepsy is almost three percent. However, the prevalence of active epilepsy is only about 0.8%.
There are many types of seizures that have been described, including tonic-clonic seizures, absence seizures, pseudo-seizures, shuddering attacks, and status epilepticus. Regarding morbidity, trauma is not uncommon among people with generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Injuries such as ecchymosis; abrasions; and tongue, facial, and limb lacerations often develop as a result of the repeated tonic-clonic movements. Atonic seizures are also frequently associated with facial and neck injuries. Worldwide, burns are the most common serious injury associated with epileptic seizures.
The goal of treatment is to achieve a seizure-free status without adverse effects. Many different medications exist that affect specific neurotransmitters, such as gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) as with phenobarbital, benzodiazepines; sodium channel blockers such as phenytoin, carbamazepine, and oxcarbazepine; glutamate (an excitatory amino acid) modulators, such as topiramate, lamotrigine, felbamate; calcium channel blockers, such as ethosuximide, lamotrigine, and valproate; and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, such as topiramate and zonisamide.
In most cases the conventional medical approach to diagnosis and treatment of seizures is consistently effective. The diagnostic categories are so finite in their difference that only specialists (i.e., neurologists) would know the differences. Mapping of neural networks, electrical conductivity studies, and computational analysis of how the brain works has given researchers and clinicians the ability to understand the brain’s basic biochemical and physiological dynamics better than ever before. They are now able to tie it appropriately to psychiatric and behavioral disorders.
However, the cases most successfully by the NBITC approach are those where the seizures have not been controlled by the conventional approaches. This is illustrated in the two cases below.
A thirty-seven year old male presented with seizures, life-long depression, suicidal tendencies and extreme fatigue. This was a man who was literally at death’s doorstep—he was exhausted, unable to care for himself and without hope. His seizures began four months earlier while on a pleasure trip to Las Vegas. He had no history of head trauma or previous seizure activity. He was evaluated by a neurologist who ordered a computer tomography (CT) scan, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study and an electroencephalogram (EEG). All of these studies were appropriate for the medical model, and all would have been ordered by Dr. Neustadt; however, the crucial difference between the nutritional biochemistry approach and that of a well-educated conventional neurologist is that Dr. Neustadt also ordered a comprehensive nutritional biochemistry evaluation.
All conventional imaging ordered by the neurologist revealed no abnormalities. The patient was diagnosed as having “pseudo-seizures” (literally, “false seizures”), yet there was nothing false about them. The patient was prescribed different anti-seizure medications, but none reduced his seizure symptoms at all. Instead, he developed increasing depression because he felt more and more helpless and hopeless because none of his symptoms were relieved after seeing these medical experts.
When he finally arrived at Montana Integrative Medicine and took the comprehensive nutritional biochemistry test, his results explained the underlying causes all of his symptoms. His depression was a result of low epinephrine, low serotonin, low omega-3 fatty acids and a functional vitamin B6 deficiency. His seizures were due to low phenylalanine, low tyrosine, low dopamine and functionally low vitamin B6, which is required for dopamine formation. Low dopamine causes seizures and is an underlying cause of Parkinson Disease. Additionally, his medical evaluation, which included a diet recall, made it apparent that the timing of his seizures appeared to coincide with possible low blood sugar, which is documented to cause seizures.
| Low essential fatty acids of the omega-3 series |
 |
| Functional vitamin B6 deficiency |
 |
| Neurotransmitter imbalances, with low dopamine (homovanillate) |
 |
He was placed on a comprehensive treatment plan that included nutritional cofactors to correct his underlying biochemical dysfunction and a medically-directed diet to better control his blood sugar. He was prescribed amino acids, high-dose B-vitamins, essential fatty acids, a high-quality multivitamin and mineral supplement and a high-fiber diet. The patient’s seizures stopped after being on the program for four days and he continued to be seizure free at the three-month follow up appointment. He also reported no more depression, increased energy, no suicidal thoughts and feeling better than he could ever remember.
Case: Tremors in a Forty-seven Year Old Man
A forty-seven year old man suffered for many years with tremors. He was told by multiple doctors that is was "familiar tremors" because he father also had suffered from tremors. No underlying cause had been diagnosed, but he had been prescribed propanolol, a beta blocker medication that is used to treat hypertension, migraine headaches, angina (chest pain) and tremors. Even on the medication, this patient's tremors were worsening and affecting his ability to work. He worked in construction, and a steady hand was absolutely necessary for his job. When he filled out the paperwork for his appointment the writing appeared shaky and smallish, like that of a Parkinson's disease patient. Interestingly, the underlying cause of his tremor turned out to be low dopamine, which is the cause of Parkinson's disease and a documented cause of tremors.
His MetaCT 400 test results showed the underlying causes. Treating the biochemical determinants of his condition resulted in complete resolution of his tremor. Only when he was under extremely stressful situations would his tremor temporarily return.
| Multiple low essential- and non-essential amino acids, especially low phenylalanine and tyrosine, which are the underlying cause of the low marker for dopamine production (below), causing the tremors. |
  |
| Low and low-normal red blood cell minerals |
  |
| High-normal Cadmium |
 |
| Low omega-3 fatty acids |
  |
| Elevated urinary adipate, indicating a decreased ability to burn fats for energy |
 |
| Decreased urinary homovanillate, a marker for dopamine, and low urinary 5-Hydroxyindoleacetate, an indicator for serotonin. Low dopamine is understood to cause the tremors seen in Parkinson's disease. |
 |
This patient was put on a comprehensive diet, lifestyle and dietary supplement program to correct the underlying causes of his tremors. He discontinued his propanolol. After six weeks on the program his tremors were reduced by 60%. After twelve weeks on the program his tremors were gone, except when he was in periods of high stress, when his tremors would slightly and temporarily return.
