Adhesio interthalamica and cavum septum pellucidum in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

The absence of the adhesio interthalamica (AI; also called interthalamic adhesion or massa intermedia) and the presence of a large cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) later in life have been related to neurodevelopmental alterations and have not been systematically investigated in epilepsy to date. This study carried out a MRI evaluation of the AI and CSP in a large sample with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). A total of 179 patients, classified according to the side of the epileptogenic focus, and 156 age- and sex-balanced healthy controls were assessed. Between-group comparisons of the prevalence and length of both AI and CSP were conducted. Neuropsychological assessments were also performed in 160 MTLE patients. The patients exhibited reduction in the AI prevalence (P < 0.05; FDR-uncorrected) and length (P < 0.05; FDR-corrected) when compared to controls. Patients without AI showed lower scores in a proportion of neuropsychological tests than patients with AI. No CSP differences were found between MTLE patients and controls. These results support that AI anomalies have clinical significance in MTLE, as well as indicate that neurodevelopmental alterations may be implicated in this disorder.

Spirituality aspects in patients with epilepsy.

PURPOSE: Do epilepsy and spirituality interact? This study aimed to determine whether an easy-to-administer scale, such as the spirituality self-rating scale (SSRS), could detect increased religiousness in people with epilepsy and verify how epilepsy influences spirituality. METHODS: A total of 196 consecutive patients with epilepsy (epilepsy group, EG) with a mean age and standard deviation of 46.5 ± 14.8 years and 66 subjects with no history of neurological or other chronic disorders (control group, CG) were assessed by the SSRS and neurologically. RESULTS: The SSRS scores of the EG and CG did not differ significantly (22.8 ± 5.1 and 22.0 ± 5.7, respectively). Patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS) had significantly higher SSRS scores than those with other epileptic syndromes and, than in individuals of the CG. Multiple regression showed that the factors significantly associated with greater spirituality (greater SSRS score) for the EG, were lower education level, abnormal background EEG activity, and MTLE-HS. Other relationships with the clinical features of epilepsy and with the presence of psychiatric co-morbidity were not found. CONCLUSION: The present findings do not confirm a specific role of epilepsy in spirituality or of "epileptic hyperreligiosity," but suggest that spirituality in people with epilepsy is influenced by education level, and may also stem from epilepsy-related factors such as abnormal background EEG activity and the presence of MTLE-HS.

Clinical holistic medicine: chronic infections and autoimmune diseases.

The consciousness-based (holistic) medical toolbox might be useful in general practice and in cases of recurrent infections and chronic infection or inflammation. From our clinical experiences, there is hope for improvement from a number of diseases caused by disorders affecting the regulation of the immune system when the physician includes the holistic medical approach. Our scientific understanding of the connection between consciousness and cellular order is still limited. Consciousness-based holistic medicine removes (as explained by the holistic process theory of healing) the "blockages" in the tissues of the body and facilitates function and informational exchange of the cells of the body. Many blockages and repressed feelings in an area would imply "noise and disturbances" on the level of intercellular communications, which in turn means major difficulties for the cells of the immune system. For this they are totally dependent on the body information system, which the holistic treatment aims to recover. Processing the blockages increases the coherence of the cells and organism, thus increasing the intercellular flow of information in the area and thus strengthening the immune defense and healing the disease. The area of clinical holistic medicine is going through a rapid development and the toolbox of consciousness-based medicine is available for dealing with many diseases arising from disturbances in the regulation of the immune system. Holistic medicine has yet to be better explained scientifically and our proposed holistic cures have yet to be documented clinically. We invite the medical community to cooperate on this important challenge.