Some dogs can predict when a child will have an epileptic seizure, a new study has revealed. These dogs not only protect their charges from injuries, such as falling, but also seem to help kids deal with the daily struggle of epilepsy. Nine of the 60 dogs in the study (15 per cent) were able to predict a seizure by licking, whimpering, or standing next to the child. These dogs were remarkably accurate - they predicted 80 per cent of seizures, with no false reports. However, those interested in owning a dog with these skills cannot yet just order one. The dogs were not trained, but instead began predicting seizures spontaneously within a month of moving in with their owners. "No one is reliably training such dogs yet," says Adam Kirton, a neurologist at Alberta Children's Hospital in Canada and lead author of the study. His group is looking into setting up a training program. However, some epilepsy patients do have already dogs that have been trained to protect them during a seizure. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd

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Link ID: 5688 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Flexible brain-wiring could guard against epilepsy. TANGUY CHOUARD The nervous system is not hard-wired, according to research on spinal cord cells in tadpole embryos. Nerve cells can change their function as they develop, responding to their own electrical activity rather than playing a role that is preordained by genetics, say US biologists. Scientists thought that the precise nature of each nerve cell was determined by an irreversible programme of development, initiated by the cell's genetic code. But Nick Spitzer and his fellow neurobiologists from the University of California, San Diego, challenge that fatalistic view in this week's Nature1,2. The team finds that certain patterns of electrical activity in a young nerve cell can override its basic genetic instructions, changing the way that the cell will communicate with its peers. Nerve cells use neurotransmitter chemicals to talk to each other, and different chemicals will either excite or inhibit activity in neighbouring cells. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Ethics Charges Fell Prominent Neuroscientist

A scathing report has led to the sudden removal of a well-known British epilepsy researcher as the director of the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) in Singapore. Simon Shorvon, 54, was fired from the institute on 4 April after an investigation found he had compromised patients' safety and well-being during a clinical trial involving patients with Parkinson's disease. "This shows that people can't get away with shortcuts in Singapore," says Lim Pin, a member of the investigative panel and chair of Singapore's Bioethics Advisory Committee. "We're very protective and jealous about our reputation." Shorvon, while acknowledging he made mistakes, says the panel used some extraordinary tactics, such as locking him out of his office and going through years of e-mails, and that its overall conclusion was too harsh. The $5.6 million study was funded by the Singaporean government and aimed at elucidating the genetic basis of Parkinson's disease and two other disorders. When recruitment for the trial was lagging, the panel says, Shorvon and his colleague, Ramachandran Viswanathan, obtained lists of Parkinson's patients from two hospitals and started contacting patients directly. That was a breach of confidentiality, the panel concluded. Equally serious was Shorvon's failure to inform the ethical oversight committee and the patients themselves that participation would require them not only to donate blood but also to briefly halt their medication and undergo extensive tests. Neither step was mentioned in the consent forms signed by patients. Although the procedures weren't life-threatening, the panel says, the assessment caused severe discomfort in some patients and put them at risk of complications. The 127 patients involved "were treated like experimental subjects, without any rights," the panel concludes. Copyright © 2003 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Vagus nerve stimulator means fewer seizures for those with epilepsy

BY TRACY WHEELER Knight Ridder Newspapers AKRON, Ohio - KRT NEWSFEATURES (KRT) - His friends abandoned him. His parents fired him for his own safety. Dating? Not a chance. Epilepsy - and the frequent seizures that came with it - was stealing Mike Tribout's life. ``I didn't want to accept that I had epilepsy,'' the 32-year-old Canton resident says. ``It took me a long time to accept it. Friends who I thought were my friends didn't want anything to do with me. ... I was getting pretty depressed about it. © 2003, Akron Beacon Journal

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Link ID: 3464 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Epilepsy aid may ease depression, Alzheimer's

Implant stimulates nerve in the neck to interrupt brain signals SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES A treatment used by thousands of people with epilepsy may offer hope for those suffering from severe depression, Alzheimer's disease and chronic migraines. Results of 35 studies of vagus nerve stimulation therapy are being presented at the American Epilepsy Society's annual meeting, which began Friday in Seattle. The meeting gives more than 2,000 academics and medical professionals the chance to share the latest research on a disorder that affects 3 million Americans and costs $12.5 billion annually in medical care. ©1999-2002 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Plano youth learns to cope with epilepsy

By SHAWN FLOYD , In the days before Vagus Nerve Stimulator implants, Daniel Knorp's day-to-day life was totally unpredictable. "I was in and out of the hospital a lot, mostly in," said Daniel, a 17-year-old epilepsy patient. "Sometimes it took months before they could find the right kind of medicine for me that would work and that wouldn't get me so dopey. "Sometimes the medication adjustments and sick effects were as bad as the seizures." Copyright © 1995 - 2002 PowerOne Media, Inc.

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Link ID: 3013 - Posted: 06.24.2010

In Style, but...Out of Reach

There are plenty of genes to work with when treating epilepsy, but real therapeutic results lie in the distant future By Laura DeFrancesco Treating people who have seizure disorders is a little like playing roulette. Place a bet on a drug from column A and hope for a hit. If that drug doesn't work, try one from column B. This process can drag on for months or years, and for many people with epilepsy--between 25% and 30%--relief from seizures never comes. With 40 to 50 million people experiencing seizures worldwide, this means that huge numbers of people receive no benefit from treatment. One might think that epilepsy would be the poster child for pharmacogenomics. Steering people to the right personal drug would save billions in medical costs, plus reduce their pain and suffering. An Epilepsy Foundation study found that this disease costs the United States $12.5 billion annually, mostly stemming from loss of productivity borne largely by those with intractable or poorly controlled epilepsy.1 But what makes epilepsy so difficult to treat is that more often than not, the seizure's cause is unknown. Familial forms exist, and certain injuries and conditions such as head trauma or a brain tumor can cause it, but these cases are the exception. Most people who have seizures don't know why, and physicians cannot predict whether another will occur, and whether patients need treatment. ©2002, The Scientist Inc.

Study: Out-of-Body Is In the Mind

AFP Out-of-body experiences, which in the 1970s became popularly attributed to intervention by God or by space aliens, are likely to emanate from a more mundane source: our own minds. Swiss neurologists believe the sensation of floating above one's body or feeling being disconnected from it, an experience sometimes recounted by people who have had surgery, is triggered by the angular gyrus, in the right cortex of the human brain. A team led by Olaf Blanke at Geneva University Hospital used electrodes to stimulate the brain of a 43-year-old woman who had suffered chronic epileptic seizures for 11 years. Copyright 2002 AFP. Copyright © 2002 Discovery Communications Inc.

New technology aids in epilepsy diagnosis

By Kay Harris VALDOSTA -- Epileptic seizures affect 1 percent of the population. People can suffer through seizures for years without even knowing it, and the disorder can be misdiagnosed or mistaken for other ailments. The only way to know for sure if a patient is suffering from epileptic episodes is by hooking them up to an EEG (electroencephalograph) which records the electrical activity of the brain. The results are shown as a graph with multiple lines of waves which a doctor can then use to make a diagnosis. Traditional EEG machines are used in an outpatient setting with the patient brought in and hooked up to multiple electrodes for 40 minutes to an hour. If an episode doesn't occur during the time period, it may be missed, and the patient loses work or school time for the test. ©2001 SGAOnline.com. All rights reserved

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Link ID: 2521 - Posted: 06.24.2010

New, Non-Invasive Surgical Procedure To Eliminate Epileptic Seizures

The Indiana University School of Medicine is one of six institutions in the nation participating in the National Institutes of Health clinical trial of a new, non-invasive surgical procedure to eliminate epileptic seizures due to intractable epilepsy. "This is the first clinical trial in the United States of this promising treatment for epilepsy," says Paul DesRosiers, M.D., assistant professor of radiation oncology and the principal investigator of the IU School of Medicine trial. "As many as 10 patients will be treated at IU in this trial which is designed to determine the most effective radiation dose for eliminating the seizure focus in the brain." Currently, the only approved treatments involve medication or invasive surgery. This new radiosurgery protocol uses the Gamma Knife to focus 201 beams of gamma radiation on the precise location of the brain responsible for the seizures. Copyright © 1995-2002 ScienceDaily Magazine

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Link ID: 2208 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Epilepsy Drugs Can Triple Risk of Major Birth Defects

Medications also linked to malformations and developmental delay By Nicolle Charbonneau HealthScoutNews Reporter (HealthScoutNews) -- Pregnant women who take anti-epileptic medications face a significant risk that their children will have problems ranging from congenital defects to slow development. A new British study adds to growing evidence that many commonly prescribed anti-epileptic drugs carry this risk, but the researchers caution that not taking the anti-seizure drugs could be even more harmful. Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder in which misfiring electrical impulses in the brain lead to seizures. About 2.3 million Americans have epilepsy, and more than a million are female. SOURCES: John C.S. Dean, M.D., clinical consultant, department of medical genetics, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, U.K.; Patricia McElhatton, Ph.D., head, National Teratology Information Service, and consultant teratologist and lecturer in reproductive teratology, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, U.K.; April 2002 Journal of Medical Genetics Copyright © 2002 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

Ion Channels and Episodic Disease

Several diseases once thought to have very little in common now appear to share a key feature. Cell pores, known as ion channels, normally either directly or indirectly affect cell communication. But following a decade of research, scientists have found evidence that defects in the channels can give rise to a range of seemingly diverse diseases that intermittently attack patients who are otherwise healthy. The discovery may lead to new therapies that specifically target the channel defects and prevent the eruption of a variety of at tacks, including the seizures that are characteristic of epilepsy and migraine headaches. A man suffers bouts of muscle weakness. A young child shakes and convulses during a seizure. A woman's nemesis is blinding headaches. On the surface these afflictions, known as periodic paralysis, epilepsy and migraine, seem to share about as much in common as Britney Spears, Mozart and The Blue Man Group. A closer look, however, reveals that they all create intermittent, or episodic, attacks in otherwise healthy individuals. Copyright © 2002 Society for Neuroscience. All rights reserved.

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Link ID: 1356 - Posted: 06.24.2010

An operation to beat epilepsy

by JENNY HOPE, Daily Mail Her mother, Joy Muddiman, 33, says the difference is hard to believe. 'It's wonderful, almost like a miracle. 'For the first time we have seen Jasmine really laugh, and we can laugh with her. Before, when she began to laugh, it signalled the start of a fit.' The operation was carried out for the first time by NHS doctors last month. Previously, it was available only in Australia at a cost of more than �25,000 to non-residents, and some British children have travelled there for treatment. Neurosurgeon Christopher Chandler, of King's College Hospital, London, who led the team involved, describes it as a real advance. ©2001 Associated New Media Limited

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Link ID: 1333 - Posted: 06.24.2010

When the Brain Misfires: Understanding Epilepsy

Carl W. Bazil, MD, PhD, New York Presbyterian Hospital - Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons Susan T. Herman, MD, University Hospital of Brooklyn Epilepsy Center More than 2.5 million Americans, and nearly 50 million people worldwide, have epilepsy, and despite the numbers of those affected, epilepsy remains a poorly understood disease. Below, two neurologists discuss what is known about epilepsy, and its causes. What is the definition of epilepsy? CARL W. BAZIL, MD, PhD: The definition of epilepsy is very simple. A person who has two or more unprovoked seizures has epilepsy. By "unprovoked" I mean the seizure was not caused by a brain infection or a controlled substance, but came out of nowhere. Why does it have to be two? Can you have one unprovoked, and that's not enough to be declared epilepsy? CARL W. BAZIL, MD, PhD: The reason we define it as two is, if you have one, the chances of having another one are relatively small. If you have two, the chances of going on to have recurrent seizures are a lot greater, and that's when it's considered epilepsy. Copyright © 2001 ABCNEWS Internet Ventures.

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Link ID: 1233 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Anticonvulsant Drugs Found to Impact On Epileptic Children's Ability to Recall Information

The findings of a study from a Brazil suggest a new cooperation between physicians and educators to ensure that cognitive stimulus be offered to offset the side-effects of these necessary medicines. New Orleans -- Epilepsy and its treatment have proven to impair cognitive and behavioral functions. The impact on the former by epilepsy associated seizures, brain damage, and use of anticonvulsant drugs can result in memory deficits, attention problems, and reading and writing difficulties. About two million Americans have epilepsy; of the 125,000 new cases that develop each year, up to 50 percent are in children and adolescents, the time when learning capabilities are developed. Developmental disabilities may result from complex interaction of genetic, toxicological or pharmacological (chemical), and social factors. Among these various causes, pharmacological exposure to drugs deserves special scrutiny, because they are readily preventable. This research demonstrates the consequences of anticonvulsant therapy that may contribute to transient cognitive disabilities (impairments of attention, memory, learning and/or social behavior). Previous studies have found that anticonvulsant drugs may themselves cause changes in mental functions. They may be often mixed with neurocognitive behavior, depending on the drug used. There may be also temporary cognitive deterioration. The researchers in a new study assert that clinical experience must be used to identify the subgroup of children who remain at risk for significant and clinically relevant cognitive and behavioral adverse effects of antiepileptic drugs. In testing the effects of drugs on the cognitive functions of the epileptic child, they relied on three established postulates: Copyright © 2002, The American Physiological Society

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Link ID: 1965 - Posted: 06.24.2010

'Uncontrolled brain activity' linked to epilepsy

Researchers have shed new light on the mechanism behind epilepsy attacks in the brain, revealing a potential new target for drug treatment. Around half a million people in the UK have some form of epilepsy. Until recently the focus of research has been on cells called neurons, but a US study points to a completely different cell. Nature Neuroscience journal reports its behaviour may be key to uncontrolled brain activity behind the condition. Epilepsy attacks, which can manifest as fits in some people, or "absences" in others, are caused by too much electrical signalling from the brain's neurons. However, in many cases, the reason for this over-activity is poorly understood. Scientists now believe that, in some cases, although the problem happens at the neuron the underlying reason may be the failure of surrounding cells to help control this activity. The latest study, from the Tuft University School of Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, provides the strongest evidence yet that a cell called an astrocyte is the culprit. The astrocyte is known to have a wide range of functions, including supplying nutrients to other brain cells, and even helping the brain cope with damaged nerve cells. In some brain diseases, the astrocytes swell up and behave differently, and it is this condition which the researchers believe is linked to epilepsy. They induced this swelling in brain samples from mice, then tested whether this made a difference to the ability of the brain cells to "turn down", or inhibit, the brain signals from specific neurons. They found that the enlarged astrocytes led to reduced levels of a brain chemical known to inhibit electrical signalling from the neurons. (C)BBC

Brain stimulation a 'promising therapy' for epilepsy

Deep brain stimulation is a promising therapy for epilepsy, US researchers from Stanford University have said. In a clinical trial, 110 people had electrodes implanted in their brains and their seizures were monitored. Forty-one per cent of patients showed a reduction in seizures after 13 months while 56% experienced a reduction after two years. The patients all suffered from regular epileptic seizures and had failed to respond to drug treatment. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical treatment involving the implantation of a medical device called a brain pacemaker, which sends electrical impulses to specific parts of the brain. In the group of patients who received brain stimulation, researchers noted a 41% reduction in seizures compared to a 14.5% decline in seizures in a control group. This group did not receive stimulation. Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder which is characterised by recurrent seizures. These seizures can cause temporary loss of consciousness, convulsions, confusion or disturbances in sensations. According to the World Health Organization, epilepsy affects 50 million people worldwide. Previous studies indicate that one third of those with epilepsy do not respond to anti-epileptic drugs. Dr Robert Fisher, director of the Epilepsy Centre at Stanford University and lead author of the study, said electrical deep brain stimulation does reduce seizure frequency in patients. But he cautioned: "DBS therapy is invasive and serious complications can occur. Additional clinical knowledge would help to determine the best candidates for DBS therapy." (C)BBC

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Link ID: 13888 - Posted: 03.18.2010

Coloured lasers may offer a way to treat epilepsy

Coloured lights could be used to find treatments for brain disorders such as epilepsy, a study has suggested. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology team discovered a way to shut down brain activity using flashes of yellow and blue lasers. They hope to adjust this to switch off neurons that generate an electrical impulse abnormally, causing seizures. This could help experts understand how the brain works and, ultimately, offer treatment targets, Nature reports. The work relies on two genes found in natural organisms like algae that need light to make energy. These genes, known as Arch and Mac, contain the genetic code for light-activated proteins. The MIT team engineered brain neurons to express Arch and Mac. By doing this, they were able to control the brain cells of mice and monkeys using light. Light activates proteins which, in turn, lowers the voltage in the neurons and prevents them from generating an electrical signal, known as firing. Arch responds to blue light, Mac to yellow, and both recover afterwards. Now the researchers plan to closely examine the neural circuits of the brain in the lab to find targets that, when shut down, could treat epilepsy as well as other conditions including Parkinson's disease and chronic pain. Ed Boyden, who led the research, said: "Silencing different sets of neurons with different colours of light allows us to understand how they work together to implement brain functions. These tools will help us understand how to control neural circuits, leading to new understandings and treatments for brain disorders." (C)BBC

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Link ID: 13652 - Posted: 01.09.2010

I.Q. Harmed by Epilepsy Drug in Utero

By RONI CARYN RABIN Pregnant women who took a popular epilepsy drug, also widely used to treat migraines, pain and psychiatric disorders, had children whose I.Q. scores were significantly lower than those whose mothers took a different antiseizure medication, a new study has found. The drug, valproate, sold generically and under the brand name Depakote, remains the second-most-popular antiseizure medication used for epilepsy, but earlier studies found that use during pregnancy also increased the risk of developmental delays and major malformations. The risks that other epilepsy drugs may pose are not clear, experts say. While some are likely to be safer than others, there have not been enough studies to guide patients and their doctors. About half of the women who take valproate are not epileptics. The new study is to be published on Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine. Three-year-olds whose mothers had taken valproate during pregnancy had I.Q. scores that were nine points lower on average than children whose mothers had taken a different antiseizure medication, lamotrigine. The I.Q. scores of toddlers whose mothers took valproate were also lower than scores of children whose mothers took two other antiseizure medications, phenytoin and carbamazepine. Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

'Sticky cell' clues to epilepsy

A faulty immune reaction may be responsible for the development of epilepsy, research suggests. Studies in mice by US and Italian researchers linked seizures to brain changes which made immune cells stick inside its blood vessels. This, in turn, the journal Nature Medicine reported, helped break down a vital filter which protects the brain from harmful chemicals. "Unsticking" these cells helped prevent the development of epilepsy in mice. Recent research has focused on problems with the "blood brain barrier" as a possible key to epilepsy, which, if poorly controlled, can mean regular and potentially damaging seizures. Many molecules circulating in the bloodstream could cause damage if they reach the brain, and the role of the barrier is to keep them away. The loss of the barrier is known to be connected to the "excitability" of neurons which may be the trigger for epileptic seizures, but the root cause of why the barrier could be breached remains mysterious. The latest research may have found how an initial, non-epileptic, seizure could lead to a lifetime of epilepsy. It looked at the behaviour of white blood cells - leukocytes - whose job it is to defend the body from threats such as bacteria and viruses. The scientists found that, in mice at least, the initial seizure caused the release of a body chemical within the blood vessels which increased the "adhesion" of leukocytes, keeping them in the vessels for longer. Normally, the mice would then go on to develop full epilepsy, but when this "stickiness" chemical was blocked using antibodies or by genetically changing the mice, the frequency of subsequent seizures was markedly reduced. (C)BBC

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