A new understanding of why seizures occur with alcohol withdrawa...

Courtesy EurekAlert! - Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences  Fri, 10/16/2009 - 22:00

(Georgetown University Medical Center) Epileptic seizures are the most dramatic and prominent aspect of the "alcohol withdrawal syndrome" that occurs when a person abruptly stops a long-term or chronic drinking habit.

Researchers have shown that the flow of calcium ions into brain cells via voltage-gated 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 consequence of the seizures?

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