Via EpilepsyResearchUK:

imbl_crosbie et al_20dec11_5463webNew research has shed light on the potential effectiveness of using synchrotron X-ray microbeams as a means of treating patients with forms of epilepsy that have proven resistant to treatment with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs).

Led by the Grenoble Institut des Neurosciences, the European research project examined several studies recently performed to evaluate the antiepileptic effects of X-ray synchrotron microbeams in different animal models of epilepsy, as well as to try and understand how they function.

Radiotherapy is an emerging alternative to other epileptic treatments, with this study evaluating the latest methods using the capabilities of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble.

According to data published in the journal Physica Medica, the new therapy option was associated with a decrease in seizure frequency, following interlaced microbeam radiotherapy applied to the somatosensory cortex – a part of the brain that plays a key role in causing seizures.

Article Continues: http://www.epilepsyresearch.org.uk/synchrotron-x-ray-microbeams-could-aid-treatment-of-drug-resistant-epilepsy/

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