Neurological disease

Chapter 33 Neurological disease




Epilepsy





The different epileptic syndromes are divided into two main types:




The highest rates of epilepsy are in children and elderly people.


The neurotransmitters involved in epilepsy are largely amines. Drugs associated with neurological disease tend to be a type of amine, which is why plant alkaloids can have a similar effect (see Chapter 23 ‘Amines and alkaloids’, p. 175).







Pharmacokinetics of Anticonvulsants


Anticonvulsants tend to have interactions with a wide range of drugs, but particularly those that bind to the plasma proteins (see Chapter 16 ‘How do drugs get into cells?’, p. 126) or those metabolized by the liver (see Chapter 17 ‘Metabolism’, p. 129).


One of the problems is that they can increase the chances of toxicity without increasing the antiepileptic effect. Supplements or herbal treatment do, therefore, have the potential to interact with these powerful drugs. Valproate and newer antiepileptic drugs do not require such careful monitoring of the plasma levels, but the newer drugs are expensive and tend to be used not in isolation but with other drugs that have reached their optimum dosage and are not having the required effect.


A third of patients will need more than one drug to keep the condition under control.




Parkinson’s Disease













Stay updated, free articles. Join our Telegram channel

Jul 22, 2016 | Posted by in PHARMACY | Comments Off on Neurological disease

Full access? Get Clinical Tree

Get Clinical Tree app for offline access