What is This Project About?
This is an international search on the World Wide Web for families with epilepsy in order to:
- Educate persons affected by epilepsy about new genetic research in this disorder
- Enlist families with hereditary epilepsy for future participation in clinical genetic research projects by filling out an anonymous questionnaire
- Match those interested in volunteering their pedigree with genetic researchers in order to identify the epilepsy gene in their family
The completion of a brief form by you or a family member will allow scientists to determine whether the pattern of epilepsy found in your family, or a family you are familiar with, could be valuable for further study.
More information can be found at: http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org.
How Can Finding a Gene Help People With Epilepsy? - Identifying a gene for epilepsy permits early accurate diagnosis of the individual
- Indicates who in the family is not affected
- Allows prediction of the risk to future children for family planning
- Helps to search for new therapies to prevent, delay or reverse the onset of seizure disorders
How is the Epilepsy Gene Detected?It starts with a simple blood test. Basically, DNA from family members who have seizures is compared with the DNA from those who do not.
A blood sample from each person in the family is usually required, but even a small family can often provide a great deal of information.
What is the Chance of Finding a Gene?It is not possible yet to detect all epilepsy genes. In some families, there are too few members with seizures to complete the analysis; in others, the gene is linked to a region of the chromosome where the map is not yet complete.
Some day, many epilepsy genes will be known, which will speed detection in most families. This project can help us reach that goal.