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Mouse Study Sheds Light on How Diet May Affect Epilepsy
Posted 4 days ago by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, May 23 – It's long been known that a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet can reduce epileptic seizures that resist drug therapy, and now researchers studying mice say they think they know why. The results of their research in mice suggest that resistance to seizures among people who eat what's called a ketogenic diet is linked to a protein that modifies cellular metabolism in the brain. The findings, reported in the May 24 issue of the journal Neuron, may lead to the development of new treatments for epilepsy, according to the researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston. "The connection between metabolism and epilepsy has been such a puzzle," study co-leader Gary Yellen, a professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, said in a Harvard news release. "I've met a lot of kids whose lives are completely changed by this diet. It's amazingly ... Read more
Parents Often Lose Sleep Over Child's Epilepsy, Study Finds
Posted 10 days ago by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, May 17 – Parents of young children with epilepsy often sleep in the same room or the same bed as their child to monitor their condition, but the bed-sharing may be interfering with restful sleep for both the parents and kids, new research finds. In the study, published in the journal Epilepsia, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital for Children in Boston examined the sleeping arrangements of 105 families who had a child with the seizure disorder and 79 families whose children did not have epilepsy ("controls"). The children ranged in age from 2 to 10 years. Among the children with epilepsy, about 41 percent had seizures within the first year of life, while the mean age of seizure onset was about 2 years. In addition, 64 percent had at least one seizure within the last month and 37 percent had daily seizures. About 64 percent of parents who shared a bed with their ... Read more
Related support groups: Epilepsy
Response to First Treatment May Predict Epilepsy's Course
Posted 18 days ago by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, May 9 – The way someone responds to the first anti-seizure medication given after a diagnosis of epilepsy often predicts how well- controlled their seizures will be over time. A new study found that about 50 percent of people became seizure-free after the first medication they took. By contrast, only 13 percent became seizure-free after the second drug was tried, and just 4 percent were seizure-free after a third drug was tried. "The long-term treatment outcome is fairly constant, and thus predictable early on, in most people with epilepsy," said the study's lead author, Dr. Patrick Kwan, a professor of neurology at the University of Melbourne, in Australia. "Few patients become seizure-free after failure of the first two medications tried," he added. Results of the study are published in the May 9 online issue of the journal Neurology. Epilepsy is a seizure disorder. You ... Read more
Related support groups: Seizures, Epilepsy, Seizure Prevention, Seizure Prophylaxis
Migraine Guidelines: What Works, What Doesn't
Posted 23 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, April 23 – Dozens of medications are available to prevent debilitating migraine headaches, but most migraine sufferers don't use them, a new study finds. "Approximately 40 percent of people with migraines need preventive treatment, and only about one-third of them are actually getting it," said Dr. Stephen D. Silberstein, co-author of new guidelines developed by the American Academy of Neurology and the American Headache Society. The drugs include prescription, over-the-counter and herbal medications. Which will work best "depends on the patient," said Silberstein, director of the Jefferson Headache Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. The guidelines, published in the April 24 issue of Neurology, were scheduled for presentation at the academy's annual meeting in New Orleans, April 21 to 28. Dr. Brian M. Grosberg, director of the Montefiore Headache Center in ... Read more
Related support groups: Depression, Migraine, Effexor, Lamictal, Metoprolol, Topamax, Depakote, Effexor XR, Ibuprofen, Epilepsy, Naproxen, Migraine Prevention, Venlafaxine, Advil, Propranolol
Epilepsy Leads to More Brain Abnormalities Over Time
Posted 3 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, April 3 – Aging accelerates brain-structure abnormalities in people with childhood-onset temporal-lobe epilepsy, a new study says. Temporal-lobe epilepsy is the most common type of partial epilepsy, with about 60 percent of all epilepsy patients having this form of the disease. Previous research suggests that people with childhood-onset epilepsy have significant mental and developmental problems that continue into adulthood, particularly in those who don't respond to seizure medications. Prior studies also have found that patients with temporal-lobe epilepsy have structural abnormalities in many areas of the brain. But there is limited knowledge about how aging affects these abnormalities. In the study, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison used MRI to examine the brains of 55 patients with chronic temporal-lobe epilepsy and 53 people without epilepsy. The ... Read more
When Drugs Fail, Surgery May Get Epilepsy Under Control
Posted 7 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, March 6 – Uncontrollable temporal lobe epilepsy affected almost every major aspect of John Keener's life. Despite trying medication after medication, Keener had to give up driving after he had a serious accident while having a seizure. Because he couldn't drive, he had to drop out of college. Dating seemed an insurmountable challenge because Keener never knew when he might have a seizure. But in 2006 his "life completely changed" when he underwent surgery for his epilepsy. "Surgery made a huge difference in my life," said Keener, of Camarillo, Calif. Once he got his license back, he was able to start his own business, and he and his girlfriend, Christine Smith, are celebrating their one-year anniversary. "Epilepsy is a serious condition and in approximately one-third of patients it won't be controlled by their medications," explained Dr. Jerome Engel Jr., director of the ... Read more
Related support groups: Epilepsy
Surgery Effective for Tough-to-Treat Epilepsy
Posted 7 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Feb. 7 – Surgery can significantly improve seizure control and quality of life among people with epilepsy, according to a study stretching over 26 years. "This study may be the longest follow-up of epilepsy surgery patients in that it spans three decades, during which there were several eras of neuroimaging [brain-scanning] techniques," said Dr. Cynthia Harden, chief of the division of epilepsy and electroencephalography at the Cushing Neuroscience Institute, part of North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y. She was not involved in the study. The research team, led by Dr. Matthew Smyth with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, argued that the findings could have an impact on the way the disease is treated. As reported Feb. 7 in the journal Epilepsia, they followed 361 patients who had epilepsy surgery over the course of 26 years to determine how the ... Read more
Fetal Exposure to Epilepsy Drug Might Raise Autism Risk: Study
Posted 5 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Dec. 5 – Children exposed to the epilepsy drug valproate have a nearly three times higher risk of having an autism spectrum disorder, new research finds. Researchers in Denmark used national birth data that included nearly 656,000 children born in that country between 1996 and 2006 to 428,000 women. Using a national prescription drug registry, they identified women who had filled a prescription for valproate (Depakote) shortly before pregnancy through the day of the child's birth. Using the Danish Psychiatric Register, researchers then identified children who were diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, which can include both severe and milder forms of autism, and children with early-onset, more severe autism. After taking into account certain factors such as maternal age, the child's gender and other factors that influence autism risk, researchers found that children ... Read more
Related support groups: Depakote, Epilepsy, Depakote ER, Autism, Divalproex Sodium, Depakote Sprinkles
Autistic Teens With Epilepsy Often Light-Sensitive
Posted 5 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Dec. 5 – Teenagers with autism who also have epilepsy often suffer from photosensitivity, or light sensitivity, researchers say. The combination means that certain behaviors common among autistic kids – such as flapping their hands in front of their faces – could increase their risk for photosensitive seizures. Although photosensitivity occurs in up to 14 percent of children with epilepsy, the rate jumps to 30 percent among teens suffering from both epilepsy and autism spectrum disorders, researchers from Children's Hospital Boston discovered. "Our study found a high overall incidence of photosensitivity in 25 percent of children over 15 years of age with autism spectrum disorder, and an even higher rate of 29.4 percent in that age group of children who had both epilepsy and autism," study author Jill Miller-Horn said in a news release from the American Epilepsy Society. ... Read more
Kids With Epilepsy Should Get Screened for Autism, Developmental Delays
Posted 5 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Dec. 5 – Children seen in epilepsy clinics should be screened for development delay and autism because the conditions often occur together, new research suggests. Researchers at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago asked parents of children under age 5 who had epilepsy to fill out screening questionnaires. The results showed that 75 percent of children also had a developmental delay, while 41 percent had autism. More than one-third of the children had not been previously diagnosed with either autism or developmental delay, the researchers noted. The results "support routine screening of both new onset and established cases of pediatric epilepsy," according to the researchers in a news release. The study is slated to be presented on Monday at the American Epilepsy Society annual meeting in Baltimore. Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and ... Read more
Related support groups: Epilepsy
3-D TV Doesn't Raise Seizure Risk for Kids With Epilepsy: Study
Posted 4 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com
SUNDAY, Dec. 4 – Children with epilepsy do not appear to face an increased risk for seizures while watching 3-D TV, a new German-Austrian study suggests. However, the results did reveal that about one in five of these children is vulnerable to other unpleasant reactions when viewing 3-D television, including nausea, headaches and dizziness. "Normal people have a very low risk to get a seizure while watching 3-D," explained study author Dr. Herbert Plischke, executive director of the University of Munich's Generation Research Program. In contrast, he noted that people with epilepsy --particularly children – could be expected to have a "higher vulnerability" in terms of overall seizure risk in such a setting. However, among a group of young people with epilepsy, "we could not see any provoked seizure which was caused by 3-D," Plischke said. He and his colleagues from the University of ... Read more
Epileptic Seizures May Worsen During Menstrual Cycle
Posted 4 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com
SATURDAY, Dec. 3 – Seizures among women of childbearing age with epilepsy may worsen during menstruation or ovulation, researchers have found. In the study, investigators at the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at the University of California, Irvine, examined the trend of seizures associated with menstrual cycles (called "catamenial" seizures) among a group of women aged 19 to 50. The study participants responded to a questionnaire about the worsening of their seizures during their menstrual cycle, and the researchers used these responses as well as the women's monthly seizure calendars to identify those with catamenial seizures. Among the women with catamenial seizures, the investigators examined the type of epilepsy they had, the frequency of their seizures, their response to medications as well as neuroimaging findings and seizures during pregnancy, according to a news release from ... Read more
Foundation Aims to Raise Awareness of Brain Diseases
Posted 14 Oct 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Oct. 14 – One in six people in the United States is affected by a brain disease such as stroke, dementia, epilepsy or multiple sclerosis, and more research is required to find new treatments, says the American Academy of Neurology Foundation. To mark its 20th anniversary, the foundation has released a video public service announcement to raise awareness about the need for ongoing research. "Brain disease is in the news every day, and it is nearly impossible to find someone who has not had a family member or friend affected by one of the many forms of brain disease that attack the brain and nervous system," Dr. John Mazziotta, chair of the foundation's board of trustees and professor and chair of the Brain Mapping Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in an AAN news release. "People are also concerned they, or their family members, will become affected by ... Read more
Related support groups: Multiple Sclerosis, Ischemic Stroke, Epilepsy, Dementia
Researchers Find Link Between Epilepsy, Schizophrenia Risk
Posted 20 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Sept. 20 – People affected by epilepsy are nearly eight times more likely than those without it to develop schizophrenia, and those with schizophrenia are also six times more likely to have epilepsy than people who are not schizophrenic, a new study suggests. Researchers in Taiwan say this two-way relationship between the two conditions may be due to genetic, environmental or neurobiological causes. After analyzing information on almost 5,200 patients with schizophrenia and more than 11,500 patients with epilepsy and controls matched for age and sex in both groups, researchers found the prevalence of epilepsy was higher in the schizophrenia patient group at about 7 per 1,000 person-years, compared to just over 1 per 1,000 among those not affected by schizophrenia. Meanwhile the study, published in Epilepsia, showed the prevalence of schizophrenia was about 3.5 per 1,000 ... Read more
Related support groups: Epilepsy, Schizophrenia
New Dog Gene May Shed Light on Childhood Epilepsy
Posted 29 Jul 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, July 29 – An epilepsy gene, called LGI2, has been found in Lagotto Romagnolos – a specific breed of dog known for truffle hunting, according to a new study. Researchers say the newly identified gene has enabled the development of a DNA test for these dogs. The gene discovery is also significant for humans, providing new perspective on the development of a child's brain and the remission mechanisms in childhood epilepsies, they added. The findings were published in the July 28 online edition of PLoS Genetics. An epileptic seizure is caused by an electronic disturbance in brain function. Childhood epilepsies, in particular, are characterized by remission (the seizures begin and last for a while before they disappear completely). The mechanisms behind the remissions, however, have largely remained a mystery, the authors noted in a University of Helsinki news release. Although not ... Read more
Related support groups: Epilepsy
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Seizures, Status Epilepticus, Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, Central Nervous System Disorders
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