Feature Channels: Epilepsy

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A University of Warwick study to understand a form of epilepsy that affects children has received a grant from the charity Epilepsy Research UK.

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A clinical trial of a drug that researchers hope can prevent or delay the onset of epilepsy in children with tuberous sclerosis has begun at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

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Little is known about which specific areas of the brain contribute to a patient’s epileptic network or the roles these different areas play. As a group of researchers in Germany now reports this week in Chaos, one way to get closer to the complex wiring of the human brain is by merging concepts from a timed-based synchronization theory and space-based network theory to construct functional brain networks.

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In a first for the Virginia Tech Carilion partnership, a medical school student has been awarded with a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowship to devote a year to epilepsy research at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.

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A 15-year follow-up study of young adults with epilepsy found that those with uncomplicated epilepsy who were seizure-free for five years or more did as well as their siblings without epilepsy in measures of education, employment, family arrangements and driving status. Youth with complicated epilepsy had worse social outcomes and were less likely to drive, even if living without seizures. Results were published in the journal Epilepsia.

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There is an uncommon risk of death that people with epilepsy and their loved ones may not know about. The risk is called sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, or SUDEP. Now the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) and the American Epilepsy Society have co-developed a new guideline on SUDEP, published in the April 24, 2017, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, and presented at the 69th AAN Annual Meeting in Boston, April 22 to 28, 2017. The guideline is endorsed by the International Child Neurology Association.

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After ten years of continuous work, a combined DMC Children’s Hospital of Michigan and Wayne State University School of Medicine (WSUSOM) research team has successfully developed a set of electronic tools that can draw “space and time-based” maps of the neuron-signaling across speech and language centers of the human brain.

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Tiny vesicles isolated from adult mesenchymal stem cells and administered intranasally can limit the damage to the brain of animal models caused by a seizure disorder called status epilepticus, according to research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

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Researchers at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, Florida have performed the first procedure in a pediatric and young adult brain tumor study. The trial aims to demonstrate feasibility and safety of using focused ultrasound to ablate a variety of benign tumors located in the central part of the brain in ten patients, ages 8 to 22. Left untreated, these tumors often cause seizures, cognitive delays, or other complications as they grow.

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Taking cannabidiol may cut seizures in half for some children and adults with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), a severe form of epilepsy, according to new information released today from a large scale controlled clinical study that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 69th Annual Meeting in Boston, April 22 to 28, 2017. Cannabidiol is a molecule from the cannabis plant that does not have the psychoactive properties that create a “high.”

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Las Madrinas, a nonprofit dedicated to raising funds for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), has made a $5 million commitment to support care for children diagnosed with neurological conditions. The gift establishes the Las Madrinas Chief of Neurology Chair, to be held by Douglas Nordli, Jr., MD, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Neurology at CHLA, and supports the improvement and expansion of the Neurological Institute’s renowned Epilepsy Program.

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A recent review article in the European journal Seizure, by researchers at University of Cincinnati Epilepsy Center at the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute, looks at the stress-seizure relationship and how adopting stress reduction techniques may provide benefit as a low risk form of treatment.

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A new study investigated if previous research on midazolam’s efficacy as a seizure treatment affected whether ambulances nationwide were choosing the drug over other benzodiazepines for seizure patients.

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A first of its kind mouse model could lead to an understanding of how cerebral malaria infection leads to the development of epilepsy in children and to the prevention of seizures.

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Renowned neurologist and critical care specialist Jennifer A. Frontera, MD, joins NYU Lutheran as chief of neurology, with an eye to expand neurocritical care.

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A relationship between epilepsy and heightened religious experiences has been recognized since at least the 19th century. In a recent study, researchers from the University of Missouri found a neurological relationship exists between religiosity— a disposition for spiritual experience and religious activity—and epilepsy. This finding sheds light on the connection between religion and neuropsychological processes within the human brain.

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Patients with drug-refractory epilepsy have a new treatment option at UC San Diego Health. Instead of traditional surgery, patients may be eligible for a novel technique that allows surgeons to target the abnormal area of brain with laser technology. The MRI-guided laser ablation treatment is a new first-line therapy for patients diagnosed with epilepsy.

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A preliminary study suggests that a new, wireless patch that you wear on your arm may help reduce migraine pain as well as drugs. The study is published in the March 1, 2017, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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There’s good news for kids with epilepsy. While several new drugs have come out in the last several years for adults with epilepsy, making those drugs available for children and teenagers has been delayed due to the challenges of testing new drugs on children. But an analysis of all the research published on adults and children shows that the positive results seen in adults appear to be similar in children. The preliminary meta-analysis was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 69th Annual Meeting in Boston, April 22 to 28, 2017.

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In a small phase I and II clinical trial, Johns Hopkins researchers and colleagues elsewhere found that the high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet was a safe and effective treatment option for the majority of adults experiencing a relatively rare, often fatal and always severe form of epilepsy marked by prolonged seizures that require medically induced comas to prevent them from further damaging the body and the brain.

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Neuronal degeneration is the most severe long-term consequence of repetitive seizures in patients with epilepsy, which until now was thought to be primarily caused by excitotoxicity, or over-stimulation of the neurons. New findings indicate hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, due to abnormal blood flow may be to blame for as much as half the neuronal death caused by the condition.

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People with epilepsy want their health care providers to tell them about a rare risk of death associated with the disorder, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 69th Annual Meeting in Boston, April 22 to 28, 2017.

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The MRI-guided laser ablation method is far less invasive and time-consuming than conventional surgery and has produced good results for people with medial temporal lobe epilepsy.

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New research using an Apple Watch app to track seizures in people with epilepsy finds triggers are often stress and missed sleep, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 69th Annual Meeting in Boston, April 22 to 28, 2017.

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Boston Children’s Hospital researchers have uncovered a new molecular pathway that inhibits the myelination of neurons in the brains of patients with the rare genetic disorder tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). The study, “Neuronal CTGF/CCN2 negatively regulates myelination in a mouse model of tuberous sclerosis complex,” which will be published online February 9 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, suggests new ways to treat some of the neurological symptoms associated with TSC, including autism and epilepsy.

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Photo Gallery: Magnet the Weight of 30 Elephants Lowered Through Roof of USC Stevens Hall for Next-Gen 7T MRI Machine

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An international consortium of academic research institutions have been awarded a $21 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop better ways to prevent epilepsy in patients who have suffered traumatic brain injuries.

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Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian showed that several genes implicated in rare forms of pediatric epilepsy also contribute to common forms of the disorder.

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The first set of guidelines for the use of fMRI in pre-surgical evaluation of patients with epilepsy have been published in Neurology. The seven-year effort was conducted by a committee commissioned by AAN and led by UAB's Jerzy Szaflarski, M.D., Ph.D.

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Before epilepsy surgery, doctors may consider using brain imaging to locate language and memory functions in the brain instead of the more invasive procedure that is commonly used, according to a guideline published by the American Academy of Neurology in the January 11, 2017, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. It is the first evidence-based guideline that systematically reviewed all evidence for such an evaluation.

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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine a five-year, $6 million grant to fund the Rose F. Kennedy Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC). The grant will also support a new research program focused on 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2DS), an incurable genetic disorder associated with delayed intellectual development and psychiatric conditions, and some forms of congenital heart disease as well as other medical problems.

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Four teams of UAB researchers have been awarded National Science Foundation grants totaling $5.4 million for basic neuroscience research and new methods of environmental monitoring.

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Cannabidiol oil, also known as CBD oil, reduces the frequency and severity of seizures in children and adults with severe, intractable epilepsy, according to findings presented by researchers from UAB at the American Epilepsy Society 70th Annual Meeting.

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Epilepsy patients who want to learn how to manage their own unique symptoms can now get individualized information via tablet computer through a research project at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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Matthew Colonnese, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology and physiology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, published a paper in the Journal of Neuroscience establishing a mouse model for human fetal electrographic development.

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Nationwide Children’s Hospital and SeizureTracker.com are introducing a new wearable app to help track seizures called Track It! – available for the Apple Watch in the Apple Store today.

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The University of Utah College of Pharmacy’s Anticonvulsant Drug Development (ADD) Program has been awarded a five-year $19.5 million contract renewal with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to test drugs to treat epilepsy.

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A new study shows a link between mothers with rheumatoid arthritis and children with epilepsy. The study is published in the November 16, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, a medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes the body’s own immune system to attack the joints. It differs from osteoarthritis, which is caused by wear and tear on the joints.

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Surgery is an option for patients who do not respond to medications and have epileptic scar tissue that can be removed safely. In 60 to 70 percent of surgery patients, seizures are completely eliminated, and the success rate likely will improve as imaging and surgical techniques improve.

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Fetal brains use a special amplifier in order to transmit signals, according to new research published in the journal eLife by George Washington University researchers.

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Researchers at UAB have launched the first drug study aimed at preventing or delaying the onset of epilepsy in children with a genetic condition known as tuberous sclerosis complex.

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Researchers at the University of Virginia (UVA) are starting the first clinical trial in the world using focused ultrasound to treat patients with epilepsy.

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Current methods to control epilepsy are not only inefficient but haven’t improved in more than 150 years when the first anticonvulsant drug was developed. Researchers have opened up the possibilities for rapid drug screens to treat seizures in the near future by developing the smallest whole-animal electroconvulsive seizure model using a microscopic nematode worm.

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Stimulating the brain via electricity or other means may help ease symptoms of various neurological and psychiatric disorders, with the method already used to treat conditions from epilepsy to depression. But what really happens when doctors zap the brain?

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An international team of researchers who discovered a new gene disorder that causes severe childhood epilepsy leveraged that finding to reduce seizures in two children. The collaborators’ case report reflects the potential of precision medicine--applying basic science knowledge to individualize treatment to a patient’s unique genetic profile

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ROCHESTER, Minn. — When surgery and medication don’t help people with epilepsy, electrical stimulation of the brain has been a treatment of last resort. Unfortunately, typical approaches, such as vagal nerve stimulation or responsive nerve stimulation, rarely stop seizures altogether. But a new Mayo Clinic study in JAMA Neurology shows that seizures were suppressed in patients treated with continuous electrical stimulation.

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Researchers have discovered how a new epilepsy drug works, which may lead the way to even more effective and safer medications.

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MINNEAPOLIS – Two epilepsy drugs, levetiracetam and topiramate, may not harm the thinking skills and IQs of school-age children born to women who took them while pregnant, according to a recent study. The research is published in the August 31, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. However, the drug valproate is associated with lower IQs in children, especially at higher dosages.

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UAB pediatric neurosurgeons are working with their Vietnamese counterparts to improve epilepsy care in Vietnam as part of the Global Surgery Program at UAB and Children's of Alabama.

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Research led by SUNY Downstate Medical Center shows that, at the onset of puberty, the emergence of a novel inhibitory brain receptor, α4βδ (alpha four beta delta), reduces seizure-like activity in a mouse model of epilepsy.