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Seizure Prevention News
Compound in Pot Eases Severe Form of Epilepsy
Posted 24 May 2017 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, May 24, 2017 – A landmark clinical trial has shown that a compound in marijuana can ease life-threatening seizures in children with a rare and devastating form of epilepsy. Cannabidiol – a non-intoxicating chemical – reduced seizure frequency by 39 percent in patients with Dravet Syndrome, researchers report. This is the first randomized, controlled trial to show that cannabidiol (CBD) can help control seizures in some people with epilepsy, said study author Dr. Orrin Devinsky. He is director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. "It's a big landmark in the scientific study of cannabis, and it's a major landmark in epilepsy care," Devinsky said. "After four millennia of using cannabis to treat epilepsy, we now have for the first time scientifically rigorously obtained data that this specific compound works in this specific ... Read more
Related support groups: Seizures, Epilepsy, Seizure Prevention, Cannabis, Seizure Prophylaxis
Seizure Control Eases Life for Young Adults With Epilepsy
Posted 28 Apr 2017 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, April 28, 2017 – Young adults with uncomplicated epilepsy who remain seizure-free do as well as siblings without the disorder in education, employment, driving and independent living, a new study says. The 15-year study included 361 people in Connecticut with childhood-onset epilepsy and 173 of their brothers and sisters. Those with uncomplicated epilepsy who were seizure-free for five years did as well as their siblings. But those with complicated epilepsy had worse social outcomes and were less likely to drive, even if they were seizure-free, the study found. Uncomplicated epilepsy was defined as having no other other neurologic impairments, no intellectual disability and no history of conditions such as meningitis or stroke that might have caused epilepsy. The study was published online recently in the journal Epilepsia. "Our study provides further evidence that children ... Read more
Related support groups: Seizures, Epilepsy, Seizure Prevention, Seizure Prophylaxis
Seizure Control Key to Avoiding Sudden Death With Epilepsy
Posted 25 Apr 2017 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, April 25, 2017 – In rare cases, seizures that cause convulsions and a loss of consciousness can raise the odds of sudden death in people with epilepsy, neurologists warn. These attacks are known as generalized tonic-clonic seizures, according to a new guideline from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) and the American Epilepsy Society. Just how rare is sudden death linked to these seizures? According to guideline researchers, these tragedies occur in 1 in 1,000 men and women each year and only 1 in 4,500 children annually. Still, although rare, it's crucial that the possibility of sudden death linked to seizures and risk factors for these events "are communicated to persons and families affected by epilepsy," said guideline author Dr. Cynthia Harden. She's with Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. "Our guideline brings clarity to the discussion, giving health care ... Read more
Related support groups: Klonopin, Seizures, Clonazepam, Ativan, Valium, Topamax, Lorazepam, Epilepsy, Diazepam, Topiramate, Dilantin, Phenobarbital, Seizure Prevention, Diamox, Phenytoin, Zonisamide, Primidone, Zonegran, Acetazolamide, Seizure Prophylaxis
Pot Ingredient Might Ease Severe Epilepsy
Posted 19 Apr 2017 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, April 18, 2017 – An ingredient in marijuana may reduce seizures in people with a severe form of epilepsy, a new study suggests. The ingredient in question is cannabidiol – a molecule from the marijuana plant that does not create a "high." The drug is being developed by GW Pharmaceuticals, which funded the new study. Researchers used cannabidiol to treat a type of epilepsy known as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. "The seizures in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome can be very difficult to treat, and the ones that cause falling can be dangerous and occur multiple times in a day," explained an expert in epilepsy treatment, Dr. Derek Chong. He directs the division of epilepsy at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. The new study was led by Dr. Anup Patel, of Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus. His team tested cannabidiol in 225 young ... Read more
Related support groups: Seizures, Smoking, Epilepsy, Smoking Cessation, Seizure Prevention, Cannabis, Seizure Prophylaxis, Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome
Epilepsy: Another Potential Zika Threat to Babies
Posted 17 Apr 2017 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, April 17, 2017 – Beyond its known links to birth defects and other problems, the Zika virus may also trigger cases of epilepsy in infants, warn experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among 48 babies from Brazil with probable congenital Zika infection, "50 percent reportedly had clinical seizures," said Dr. Daniel Pastula, Dr. Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp and Rosemarie Kobau. All three have studied Zika at the CDC, and co-wrote an essay on the Zika-epilepsy connection, published online April 17 in JAMA Neurology. The Zika virus is transmitted via mosquito bites, and its most devastating effects occur when pregnant women are infected. In those cases, Zika can trigger severe neurological birth defects such as microcephaly, where infants are born with underdeveloped skulls and brains. Thousands of such cases have occurred in South America, most notably in ... Read more
Related support groups: Seizures, Epilepsy, Seizure Prevention, Seizure Prophylaxis, Vitamin/Mineral Supplementation during Pregnancy/Lactation, Hydrocephalus, Insect Bites, Brain Anomalies incl Congenital, Zika Virus Infection, Labor and Delivery including Augmentation
Obesity in Early Pregnancy May Raise Child's Risk of Epilepsy
Posted 3 Apr 2017 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, April 3, 2017 – Kids are more likely to develop childhood epilepsy – a seizure disorder – if their mothers were overweight or obese early in pregnancy, a new study suggests. The risk of epilepsy in children goes up as a mother's weight goes up – reaching as high as 82 percent among kids of severely obese women, the researchers said. "This means more severe grades of obesity correspond to increasingly higher risk," said study co-author Dr. Eduardo Villamor. He's a professor of epidemiology with the University of Michigan School of Public Health. However, Dr. Steven Wolf, director of the pediatric epilepsy program at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, pointed out that the overall risk of childhood epilepsy still remains relatively low, even if a woman is overweight or obese. It's also important to note that this study wasn't designed to conclusively show a direct ... Read more
Related support groups: Obesity, Seizures, Epilepsy, Seizure Prevention, Vitamin/Mineral Supplementation during Pregnancy/Lactation, Seizure Prophylaxis, Labor and Delivery including Augmentation
Autism Greatly Boosts Kids' Injury Risk, Especially for Drowning
Posted 21 Mar 2017 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, March 21, 2017 – Children with autism are at extremely high risk of drowning compared to other kids, a new study reveals. Analysis of death records found that kids with an autism spectrum disorder are 160 times more likely to die from drowning compared with the general pediatric population, the researchers reported. Children diagnosed with autism – usually between 2 and 3 years of age – need swimming lessons as soon as possible, even before they start other therapies that will improve the long-term quality of their lives, said senior author Dr. Guohua Li. "Pediatricians and parents should immediately help enroll the child in swimming classes, before any behavioral therapy, speech therapy or occupational therapy," said Li. He is a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. "Swimming ability for kids with autism is an ... Read more
Related support groups: Seizures, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Schizophrenia, Autism, Seizure Prevention, Asperger Syndrome, Seizure Prophylaxis
'Synthetic Pot' Tied to Risky Sex, Violence and Drug Abuse in Teens
Posted 13 Mar 2017 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, March 13, 2017 – Marijuana is often seen as a relatively benign drug that produces a typically mellow high, but new U.S. government research shows that the drugs called synthetic pot appear to be much different. Teens who use synthetic pot are at a heightened risk for violent behavior, risky sex and abuse of other drugs, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study revealed. Synthetic pot – sometimes called fake weed – covers a variety of drugs sold under hundreds of brand names. Spice and K2 were common brands in the past. Some of the chemicals in fake weed are similar to those in marijuana. These drugs are often marketed as natural and safe. But, they have unpredictable, and in some cases, life-threatening effects, according to the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). And, they have become popular among teens because they are cheap and readily ... Read more
Related support groups: Birth Control, Anxiety, Contraception, Panic Disorder, Anxiety and Stress, Emergency Contraception, Seizures, Opiate Dependence, Smoking, Paranoid Disorder, Postcoital Contraception, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Drug Dependence, Agitation, Psychosis, Seizure Prevention, Agitated State, Substance Abuse, Cannabis, Seizure Prophylaxis
Severe Low Blood Sugar Episode May Up Death Risk in Those With Type 2 Diabetes
Posted 11 Mar 2017 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, March 10, 2017 – Just one episode of dangerously low blood sugar might increase the risk of death, heart disease and stroke in people with type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests. The low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) episode had to be so serious that it required a visit to the emergency room, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. "If you have a patient with a history of severe hypoglycemia, this could portend poorly for his or her future," said study co-author Alexandra Lee, a Ph.D. candidate in epidemiology. "Our thinking has been that you resolve a hypoglycemic episode and it's over. But what this tells us is that one episode may have long-lasting consequences," Lee said in a school news release. However, the researchers also noted that it's not clear from this study whether people who had a severe low blood sugar episode were ... Read more
Related support groups: Seizures, Heart Disease, Ischemic Stroke, Hypoglycemia, Seizure Prevention, Insulin Resistance, Transient Ischemic Attack, Diabetes Mellitus, Ischemic Stroke - Prophylaxis, Seizure Prophylaxis, Diabetic Coma (in DM Type II)
Can Brain Scans Help Doctors Navigate Epilepsy Surgery?
Posted 11 Jan 2017 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 11, 2017 – MRI scans might help doctors protect critical areas of the brain before surgery to treat epilepsy, new guidelines suggest. Scientists found the scans may be a safer and less invasive alternative to another more commonly used procedure, according to the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). When medication doesn't effectively control epilepsy, surgery may be recommended. Doctors can remove the part of the brain that triggers seizures or use certain procedures to control seizure activity. Before surgery, however, the brain must be "mapped" to ensure the regions responsible for language and memory aren't damaged during the procedure, the study authors explained. This can be done in one of the following ways, the AAN says: Functional MRI (fMRI): This brain imaging procedure measures blood flow, to detect brain activity. The Wada test: This invasive procedure, ... Read more
Related support groups: Seizures, Epilepsy, Seizure Prevention, Seizure Prophylaxis, Neurosurgery, Head Imaging
US Families Spend 1.5 Billion Hours Yearly on Kids With Special Health Needs
Posted 27 Dec 2016 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Dec. 27, 2016 – Families in the United States spend 1.5 billion hours each year providing home health care to their chronically ill or disabled children, a new study shows. The hours of health care these parents and other family members provide would cost $36 billion if performed by home health workers who received the going rate – or $12 billion if unskilled workers receiving minimum wage were hired, said senior researcher Dr. Mark Schuster. Parents of chronically ill children are asked these days to provide "the kind of care that, if they weren't there, the system would have to provide home health care or keep the children in the hospital longer," said Schuster, chief of general pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital. He's also a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. These time-consuming and sometimes technical health care tasks can include maintaining ... Read more
Related support groups: Seizures, Seizure Prevention, Head Injury, Muscular Dystrophy, Cystic Fibrosis, Cerebral Palsy, Seizure Prophylaxis, Head Injury with Intracranial Hemorrhage, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Head Injury w/ Intracranial Hemorrhage and Loss of Consciousness, Head Injury with Loss of Consciousness, Cystic Fibrosis with Ileus, Myotonia Congenita
'Epilepsy Gene Network' Identified in Brain
Posted 14 Dec 2016 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 14, 2016 – Scientists say they have identified a gene network in the brain that's associated with epilepsy. Although the research is in the early stages, the investigators hope their discovery can revive interest in finding new epilepsy treatments. "Identifying groups of genes that work together, and then targeting these networks of genes, may lead to more effective treatments," said study senior author Michael Johnson. He's a professor of medicine at Imperial College London in England. "Our proof-of-concept study suggests this network biology approach could help us identify new medications for epilepsy, and the methods can also be applied to other diseases," Johnson said in a college news release. The newly discovered "epilepsy network" includes 320 genes believed to be involved in how brain cells communicate with one another. When the network malfunctions, it triggers ... Read more
Related support groups: Seizures, Epilepsy, Seizure Prevention, Seizure Prophylaxis, West Syndrome, Status Epilepticus, Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, Diagnosis and Investigation, Head Imaging
Rare Infant Seizure Disorder Often Missed
Posted 6 Dec 2016 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Dec. 6, 2016 – Many infants with a rare form of epilepsy known as infantile spasms aren't promptly diagnosed, and that delay can lead to devastating health consequences, new research indicates. The peculiar clusters of seizures usually strike between 4 and 12 months of age, said study researcher Dr. Shaun Hussain. He is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles. "It is completely different from other types of seizures," Hussain said. They last about a second. Typically, the child drops his head and jerks his arms up. Parents may not notice or might think it's nothing to worry about, the researcher said. But untreated, "infantile spasms lead to terrible outcomes," said Hussain, who's also director of the UCLA Infantile Spasms Project. These outcomes can include autism, lifelong epilepsy or mental retardation, he said. Even a delay of a ... Read more
Related support groups: Seizures, Epilepsy, Seizure Prevention, Seizure Prophylaxis, Diagnosis and Investigation
Marijuana Derivative May Curb Tough-to-Treat Epilepsy
Posted 6 Dec 2016 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Dec. 6, 2016 – A purified oral version of a marijuana compound may help with treatment-resistant forms of epilepsy, two new clinical trials show. The researchers found that the compound, cannabidiol (CBD), helped reduce seizure frequency in children and adults with two hard-to-treat forms of epilepsy: Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. The drug is still experimental, and doctors stressed that it did not help everyone and is not a "cure." On the other hand, they called the results "very encouraging," given how difficult it is to manage the seizure disorders. "It's always a good day when we have a potential new option to offer these patients," said Dr. Amy Brooks-Kayal, a pediatric neurologist at Children's Hospital Colorado who was not involved in the research. She had another caveat, however: The CBD used in the trials is a "purified, pharmaceutical-grade" pill. ... Read more
Related support groups: Seizures, Epilepsy, Seizure Prevention, Cannabis, Seizure Prophylaxis, Status Epilepticus, Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome
When Sibling Has Epilepsy, Kids Worry
Posted 5 Dec 2016 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Dec. 5, 2016 – Brothers and sisters of children with epilepsy tend to worry and feel protective toward them, a new study finds. "When a child has a chronic disease, it impacts the family and we wanted to learn how it affects siblings of children with epilepsy," said lead researcher Barbara Kroner. She's a senior epidemiologist at RTI International, a nonprofit research institute headquartered in North Carolina. "We found very few disapproving feelings among siblings toward their brothers and sisters with epilepsy. The negative feelings they had were more internal, showing they were sad for or worried about them," she explained in a news release from the American Epilepsy Society. For the study, researchers surveyed 61 parents of a child with epilepsy. They asked about the disorder's effect on the sibling closest in age, who had to be at least 4 years old. The study found that ... Read more
Related support groups: Klonopin, Seizures, Clonazepam, Ativan, Valium, Lorazepam, Epilepsy, Diazepam, Seizure Prevention, Seizure Prophylaxis, Klonopin Wafer, Onfi, West Syndrome, Clobazam, Diastat, Valrelease, Diastat AcuDial, Diazepam Intensol, Zetran, Diastat Pediatric
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