New mechanism for febrile seizures in young children discovered
Monday, November 3, 2014 - 04:00
in Health & Medicine
Febrile seizures are among the most dreaded complications of infectious diseases in small children. An international research team has now made a breakthrough by demonstrating the existence of a previously unknown cause for this most frequent form of epileptic attacks in small children. As their study shows, mutations in the STX1B gene are responsible for the children's pathological reactions to fever. The gene mutations lead to an impaired regulation in the release of certain nerve cell messenger substances.