Mednews Epilepsy

Zinc has been found to play a critical role in regulating communication between cells in the brain, possibly governing the formation of memories and controlling the occurrence of epileptic seizures...

A team of neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has succeeded in creating what amounts to a GPS system for locating and tracking a vital class of brain cells that until now has eluded comprehensive identification, particularly in living animals. The cells in question are the class of neurons that release the neurotransmitter called GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid)...

Epilepsy patients receiving additional treatment with anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) have an approximately seven times lower risk of dying from a sudden unexpected death according to new research published online first in The Lancet Neurology. In comparison with the general population, sudden unexplained death is 20 times more common in people suffering from epilepsy...

Columbia Engineering researchers have developed a new technique to reach neurons through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and deliver drugs safely and noninvasively. Up until now, scientists have thought that long ultrasound pulses, which can inflict collateral damage, were required...

Researchers from Taiwan have confirmed a bidirectional relationship between schizophrenia and epilepsy. The study, published in Epilepsia, a journal of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), reports that patients with epilepsy were nearly 8 times more likely to develop schizophrenia and those with schizophrenia were close to 6 times more likely to develop epilepsy...

It appears that schizophrenia and epilepsy are linked in both directions. Researchers in Taiwan confirmed the link when they found study participants with epilepsy were nearly 8 times more likely to develop schizophrenia, and those with schizophrenia were nearly 6 times more likely to develop epilepsy...

Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) features an article about new research, suggesting that febrile seizures in children may be associated with respiratory alkalosis, indicated by elevated blood pH and low carbon dioxide levels caused by hyperventilation, and independent of the underlying infection severity...

New research shows that febrile seizures in children may be linked to respiratory alkalosis, indicated by elevated blood pH and low carbon dioxide levels caused by hyperventilation, and independent of the underlying infection severity...

Glioma, one of the most deadly and common types of brain tumor, is often associated with seizures, but the origins of these seizures and effective treatments for them have been elusive...

Some people feel compelled to pet every furry animal they see on the street, while others jump at the mere sight of a shark or snake on the television screen. No matter what your response is to animals, it may be thanks to a specific part of your brain that is hardwired to rapidly detect creatures of the nonhuman kind...

The discovery that low-intensity, pulsed ultrasound can be used to noninvasively stimulate intact brain circuits holds promise for engineering rapid-response medical devices...

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures may go undiagnosed for much longer in veterans compared to civilians, according to a new study published in the September 6, 2011, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. This type of seizure is different from seizures related to epilepsy and is thought to have a psychological origin...

To most people, the term epilepsy conjures up images of generalized convulsive seizures with salivation and loss of consciousness for several minutes. However, cats are known to show strange types of seizures in which consciousness is usually impaired although not all of the body is affected...

The 29th International Epilepsy Congress in Rome, Italy (28th August-1st September) 1-4 presented consistent evidence this week, that a combined treatment with Vimpat® (lacosamide) has generally been well tolerated and linked to a sustained reduction in partial onset seizures for up to 8 years. Lacosamide, launched in the E.U...

Preliminary results from a new Phase III pediatrics study, announced by Eisai, demonstrate that the anti-epilepsy treatment Zonegran(R) (zonisamide/ZNS) is more effective than placebo and well tolerated in pediatric patients with partial-onset seizures treated with one or two other anti-epileptic drugs...

Results of a new investigation have revealed that during a two-year period, the overall U.S. healthcare costs were twice as much for epilepsy patients with unstable AED treatment (switch, add-on or discontinuation of treatment), compared to those on stable treatment (no change in treatment regimen), and emergency room costs were roughly three to eight times higher...

Short-term energy storage in animal cells is usually achieved through the accumulation of glucose, in the form of long and branched chains, known as glycogen. But when this accumulation happens in neurons it is fatal, causing them to degenerate...

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a brain-circuit defect that triggers absence seizures, the most common form of childhood epilepsy...

The Epilepsy Therapy Project (ETP) and the Epilepsy Foundation (EF) announced a New Therapy Grant to potentially help those with treatment resistant epilepsy. This grant was awarded to Alexander Rotenberg, M.D., Ph.D...

Lundbeck, a Danish pharmaceutical company, has objected to the use of pentobarbital, which was used to execute convicted murderer and rapist, Jerry Jackson, 30, by lethal injection in the State of Virgina, USA. Jackson had murdered an 88-year-old woman...