News on Epilepsy

A WonderBaby.org post explains it for parents. (5/16/12)

Wonder Baby reports on a device that would have made my son's recent ambulatory EEG much easier. (5/5/12)

Observations shared on the blog Epilepsy Warriors. (4/17/12) More on epilepsy

Description of a complex partial seizure. (4/9/12)

A detailed account, complete with adorable photos, from Epilepsy Warriors. (2/7/12)

According to a Mashable post, a young genius has suffered cardiac arrest possibly caused by an epileptic seizure. (12/31/11)

From About.com Vision: "A new study has found that teenagers with autism who also have epilepsy often suffer from photosensitivity, or light sensitivity." (12/6/11)

Those with photosensitive epilepsy, or just a sensitive stomach, may want to give 'Breaking Dawn' a skip (or at least close their eyes during the birth scene). (12/05/11)

Kat's Cafe continues a series of posts for Epilepsy Awareness Month. (11/3/11)

From HealthDay: "Composer also had depression, but other symptoms overlooked, researchers say." (1/26/11)

Remembering details and events is a natural use for a smartphone app, and when you're dealing with the frequent need to take down information about the health status of a child with a disability, being able to punch it into your phone instead of waiting until you get home and hoping you remember is a terribly helpful use of technology. One such app is My Epilepsy Diary. (1/10/11)

From Science Blog: "The mother’s depressive symptoms negatively impacted the child’s health-related quality of life, but the effects were moderated by the amount of family resources and mediated by how well the family functions and the extent of family demands." (1/5/10)

From Science Blog: "FIRES, a recently named condition, occurs in previously healthy children who, after a brief fever, experience acute seizures that are resistant to medication and last for several weeks. After the seizures stop, children are left with severe cognitive dysfunction, mainly involving language, memory and behavior." (1/4/10)

From HealthDay: "Experts urge more research and funding to meet growing needs." (12/29/10)

From Newswise: "Epilepsy, a common and serious neurologic disorder that affects millions of people, is not getting the public attention and funding for research it deserves, according to an editorial on a study published in the January 4, 2011, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology." (12/28/10)

From HealthDay: "But children who outgrow seizures don't face same increased risk." (12/24/10)

From Newswise: "Many children with certain forms of epilepsy achieve seizure control through a stringent medically supervised diet, either the ketogenic diet (KD) or a Modified Atkins Diet (MAD). When to use these diets and the mechanisms underlying their anticonvulsant effect are not well defined. Research presented here at the 64th American Epilepsy Society annual meeting provides new insight into when and how these diets work." (12/6/10)

From Science Blog: "Mayo Clinic researchers studied more than 200 children with epilepsy and found that even if the cause of focal-onset seizures cannot be identified and they do not fit into a known epilepsy syndrome, long-term prognosis is still excellent." (12/6/10)

From Newswise: "A dozen new epilepsy drugs are giving doctors and patients more options, but making treatment decisions more complex, a Loyola epilepsy specialist reports in the journal Neurologic Clinics." (10/21/10)

From Computerworld: "Engineers and medical experts have joined forces in Chicago to to create a small prototype device and complex software that can monitor brainwaves of people with epilepsy and then send them from a patient's smartphone to a monitoring center for analysis." (8/19/10)

From HealthDay: "Children with new-onset epilepsy of unknown origin have a much higher rate of remission than those with symptomatic epilepsy, caused by underlying brain damage or disease. That's the finding of a new study by researchers in The Netherlands who evaluated the course and outcome of childhood epilepsy in 413 children over a 15-year period." (6/18/10)

From Science Blog: "A study conducted by researchers in The Netherlands confirmed that children with idiopathic new-onset epilepsy have a significantly higher rate of remission than those with remote symptomatic epilepsy." (6/14/10)

According to a report on ScienceBlog.com, researchers interviewed children with epilepsy, their non-epileptic siblings, and their parents. While the parents rated the quality of life of their child with epilepsy as lower than their child without, the kids rated their quality of life about the same.

From CNN: "Some antiseizure drugs used to treat epilepsy as well as depression, chronic pain, migraine, bipolar disorder, and other conditions are associated with a higher risk of suicide and violent death than other drugs in the same class, according to a new study." (4/14/10)

From Reuters: "A large-scale comparative test of three anti-epilepsy drugs found the oldest was best for treating childhood absence epilepsy, in which youngsters often stare into space for up to 20 seconds many times a day." (3/4/10)

From About.com Alternative Medicine: "A new study warns that taking the herbal remedy ginkgo biloba may raise the risk of seizures among people with epilepsy. The report also suggests that ginkgo may reduce the effectiveness of anti-seizure drugs." (2/18/10)

From Science Blog: "Current and former patients treated with the high-fat ketogenic diet to control multiple, daily and severe seizures can be reassured by the news that not only is the diet effective, but it also appears to have no long-lasting side effects, say scientists at Johns Hopkins Children's Center." (2/17/10)

From Disability News: "Performance artist Rita Marcalo said she felt 'guilty that I had perhaps short-changed people' when she failed to induce a seizure on stage as she had hoped, but pleased that her efforts had provoked a public discussion of epilepsy, disability and art in Britain." (12/18/09)

From Science Blog: "Pioneering research using human brain tissue removed from people suffering from epilepsy has opened the door to new treatments for the disease." (12/1/09)

From We Go With Him: "Rita Marcolo, a dancer in the UK who has been epileptic since the age of 17, is planning a 24-hour performance which will include strobe lights and sleep deprivation. Prior to the performance, she has ceased to take her epilepsy medication." (11/21/09)

From Samantha's Mom: "I would say 'Happy National Epilepsy Month' but there is nothing happy about epilepsy. Epilepsy is a nasty, scary, misunderstood disease." (11/19/09)

From Science Blog: "Antiepilectic drug treatments administered when the brain is developing appear to trigger schizophrenia-like behavior in animal models. In humans, having a history of seizures in infancy is a significant risk factor for development of schizophrenia later in life, but it is not known whether the risk is due to seizures themselves, or from side effects of treatment." (10/21/09)

From Science Blog: "A form of partial epilepsy associated with auditory and other sensory hallucinations has been linked to the disruption of brain development during early childhood, according to a study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC)." (8/24/09)

From Science Daily: "Children who have normal IQs before they experience a first seizure may also have problems with language, memory, learning and other cognitive skills." (8/18/09)

From Science Blog: "Scientists at Leeds have prevented epilepsy caused by a gene defect from being passed on to mice offspring -- an achievement which may herald new therapies for people suffering from the condition." (8/4/09)

From WebMD: "On the NBC show Heroes, Greg Grunberg plays an ordinary guy with extraordinary powers. In real life, he credits astonishing powers to his 13-year-old son, Jake, who has lived with epilepsy for the past five years." (6/4/09)

From Science Blog: "Approximately one-third of people who suffer from epileptic seizures cannot be treated by medication, and this process could lead to further advancements in surgical treatment." (5/20/09)

From the BBC: "Pop star Prince has revealed for the first time that he was 'born epileptic' and how his parents struggled to cope with his seizures." (5/1/09)

From Reuters: "Camphor ingestion, inhalation, or absorption through the skin, as well as a combination of these exposures may cause seizures up to 90 minutes after exposure, they note." (4/29/09)

From Science Blog: "A discovery made by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine while studying mice may help explain how some people without a genetic predisposition to epilepsy can develop the disorder." (4/23/09)

From Disability News: "Epilepsy in America is as common as breast cancer and kills as many people. Up to 50,000 Americans die each year from seizures and related causes. More than 3 million Americans are affected by epilepsy. ... Yet funding for epilepsy research lags far behind other neurological conditions." (4/13/09)

From TV Guide: "Grunberg's 12-year-old son, Jake, has lived with the struggles and seizures epilepsy causes, but thanks to a recent brain surgery, he is showing massive signs of improvement." (4/8/09)

From ParentDish: "The 'Heroes' star says his son Jake is the real hero. Jake, now 13, was diagnosed with epilepsy at age seven. It started with what Grunberg describes as 'staring spells,' and got worse from there." (4/2/09)

From MSNBC: "'Heroes' star's son better after brain surgery Actor Greg Grunberg calls the results of epilepsy procedure a 'home run.'" (4/2/09)

From Reuters: "A Danish team found that the odds of epilepsy more than doubled after mild brain injury or skull fracture and was seven times more likely in patients with serious brain injury." (2/24/09)

From Disability News: "Wife of key Obama aide shares family%u2019s journey with epilepsy." (2/15/09)

From Science Daily: The antiepileptic drug vigabatrin (VGB) has been shown to be one of the best treatments against a special form of epilepsy in infants, called infantile spasm. However, its use has been limited in many countries because it has been shown to cause a permanent narrowing of visual fields in approximately 40 percent of adults who have been exposed at school age or later." (2/3/09)

From HealthDay: "Researchers have linked a genetic variation to a common form of epilepsy in children, potentially paving the way toward greater insight into the disorder." (1/29/09)

From Fighting Monsters with Rubber Swords: "The reality that most special needs parents face is cloaked in shades of grey. We finally receive the answers for which we wait for so long, and we step back and look at them and say, 'Huh. Okay then. What now?'" (1/6/09)

From To The Max: "Ah, how much can change in a day. Yesterday, it was 65 degrees and Max seemed fine. Today, it is a snowy winter wonderland and I am a little panicky about the possibility that Max is having seizures." (12/18/08)

From HealthDay: FDA "says patients on antiepileptics need to be monitored for indications of mood changes." (12/17/08)

From Fighting Monsters with Rubber Swords: "We don't actually know that she's even having absence seizures at all. She turns nine this coming Sunday, after all; there's a condition that that causes an inability to focus that many nine-year-olds suffer from. It's called being nine." (12/16/08)

From Fighting Monsters With Rubber Swords: "It's hard to say with absolute certainty that Schuyler's little fade-outs at home with us are a product of tiny electrical storms in her head, or just the inevitability of her growing boredom where her parents are concerned." (12/8/08)

From Science Daily: "A new Mayo Clinic study found that it is generally safe to withdraw anti-seizure medications in children with epilepsy who have achieved seizure-freedom while on the medication. Researchers found that these children were not at high risk of subsequently developing intractable epilepsy." (12/8/08)

From Fighting Monsters with Rubber Swords: "Absence seizures are subtle, after all, and they manifest themselves in different ways, depending on the person. They are also particularly hard to detect in non-verbal subjects, for whom a sudden lapse in conversation is obviously not much of a tell." (12/4/08)

From HealthDay: "Trials showed Banzel proved effective against Lennox-Gastaut syndrome." (11/22/08)

From NINDS: "Three recent studies show that the drug rapamycin reduces neurological symptoms in mouse models of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a rare genetic disorder associated with epilepsy and autism. Scientists say those results could pave the way for effective treatment -- and not just for TSC." (11/6/08)

From Reuters: "Among women who develop preeclampsia during pregnancy, an increased risk of epilepsy is present in their children who are born after 37 weeks of pregnancy, according to a report in the current issue of Pediatrics." (11/5/08)

New valproates may have fewer effects. (8/5/08)

Fear that the video game may cause seizures is prompting some re-engineering. (7/24/08)

The Special Education Law Blog points to a useful resource for parents and attorneys on defending the rights of those with this invisible disability. (7/17/08)

That Black Box warning on epilepsy meds isn't going to happen after all; an FDA panel found that while there's an increased risk of suicide, it's not enough to risk scaring people away from the drugs. (7/11/08)

An advisory panel will be considering whether an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and actions warrants the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's strongest caution. (7/7/08)

"Epilepsy drugs are associated with a higher risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior, U.S. drug reviewers said in an analysis that was released on Wednesday and mirrored earlier findings." (6/11/08)

"The results of a study provide strong evidence that a diet high in fat and low in carbohydrates -- a so-called 'ketogenic diet' -- can help control seizures in children with stubborn epilepsy that does not respond well to drug therapy." (5/5/08)

"Infants with impaired growth in the womb, indicated by low birth weight or birth before full term, appear to have an increased risk of epilepsy in early childhood, according to a new study." (2/19/08)

Want your child to participate in a study on seizure drugs? Just take your seizing little one to an emergency room participating in a study for the National Institutes of Health. Doctors at these ERs will dose first, ask questions later. (5/31/07)

In a surprising bit of scientific research, an active ingredient in dandruff shampoos, zinc pyrithione (ZnPy), has been found to facilitate the flow of potassium to soothe overactive cells that fire too freely in epilepsy and seizure disorders. (4/30/07)

NBC is auctioning off artwork from its hit series "Heroes" to benefit epilepsy research. Greg Grunberg, a co-star in the series, has a son with autism and has been active in fund-raising. (3/12/07)

"While they can't always tell, epilepsy patients quite often know when a seizure will occur, a new study indicates. Younger patients and those with frequent seizures are particularly good at predicting an attack." (1/22/07)

More than half of all children with epilepsy will struggle with depression or another mental illness during their teen years, and may try to hide it to avoid dealing with yet another stigma. (4/6/06)

Diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 9, Chanda Gunn chose ice hockey as her sport in part because more "dangerous" ones like swimming were forbidden due to her seizures. (2/13/06)