Epilepsy study points to immune cells
A scientist says a discovery of the causes of epilepsy could lead to more effective treatments for 50 million people worldwide.
Dr Mark Hutchinson from the University of Adelaide has been looking into the disease with scientists from the University of Colarado.
He says they have discovered that the brain's immune cells play a role in triggering seizures, rather than the long-held belief that neurons are responsible.
Dr Hutchinson says the research could result in better treatments.
"Maybe it's the immune cells that are telling the neurons to actually misfire, and so if we have drugs that target the immune cells instead, or even in addition to the neurons, we may in fact end up with a far greater treatment of the epilepsy," he said.
"There are already drugs we know about on the market, used for a variety of different purposes, that we might be able to redirect into treatments such as epilepsy."