Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Epilepsy News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/epilepsy/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171921.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171921.php Cellular prion protein (PrPc) plays an essential role in maintaining neurotransmitter homeostasis in the central nervous system. This discovery has been made possible by the observation that both a deficiency and an excess of the protein have a considerable effect on this homeostasis. Surprisingly, in both cases, the central nervous excitability threshold is altered to such an extent that an epileptic seizure may result. Epilepsy Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171543.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171543.php To help bring greater certainty to the measurement of medication levels in a patient's bloodstream for three drugs with narrow therapeutic ranges, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is releasing new certified reference materials (CRMs). Medical Devices / Diagnostics Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171535.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171535.php A recent study determined there is a significant risk of seizure for individuals who currently smoke cigarettes. Boston-based researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School also found that long-term, moderate intake of caffeine or alcohol does not increase the chance of having a seizure or developing epilepsy. Epilepsy Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171373.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171373.php More than six percent of expectant mothers in Quebec consume prescription drugs that are known to be harmful to their fetuses, according to a Université de Montréal investigation published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Half these women will voluntarily terminate their pregnancy fearing congenital malformations, which means the abortion rate among these women is 11 percent higher than in the rest of the population. Pregnancy / Obstetrics Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171357.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171357.php At the moment a newborn switches from amniotic fluid to breathing air, another profound shift occurs: nerve cells in the brain convert from hyperexcitability to a calm frame against which outside signals can be detected. "Fetal neurons need hyperexcitability for proper development, because they are moving to the right places (in the brain) and forming the right connections," said Wolfgang Liedtke, M.D., Ph.D. Epilepsy Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170633.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170633.php NeuroTherapeutics Pharma, Inc., or NTP, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies for central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today announced that it received a $100,000 investment from the Epilepsy Therapy Project. The Epilepsy Therapy Project invests in promising research efforts in order to help make new therapies a reality for patients, and the investment in NTP is one of the largest made in its history. Epilepsy Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170486.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170486.php Ikano Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI) announced that it has received Orphan Drug designation for midazolam in the acute treatment of certain forms of epileptic seizure known as cluster seizures or alternatively, as acute repetitive seizures. ITI has a nasally administered form of midazolam called ITI-111 in late stage clinical development that is aimed at the treatment of these specific seizure types in an outpatient setting where other routes of administration can be difficult or inappropriate. Epilepsy Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170500.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170500.php Researchers in the UK are challenging the long-established idea that our brains use different mechanisms for making long and short term memories: they suggest that while some mechanisms are separate, other mechanisms are shared. Neurology / Neuroscience Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169059.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169059.php Epilepsy drugs could be developed as a treatment for neurodegenerative diseases according to research published in the journal Molecular Neurodegeneration. The study found that nerve cells lived longer when treated with T-type calcium-channel blockers, which are commonly used to treat epilepsy. 'This study is interesting since other research has shown that anti-convulsant drugs reduce the tangles of proteins linked to Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's / Dementia Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169028.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169028.php Researchers in the USA have discovered a potential new function for anti-epileptic drugs in treating neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The study, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Molecular Neurodegeneration, found that neurons in the brain were protected after treatment with T-type calcium-channel blockers, which are commonly used to treat epilepsy. Alzheimer's / Dementia Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168160.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168160.php Researchers say 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 elevated risk is due to seizures themselves, or from side effects antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment. Schizophrenia Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167784.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167784.php Epileptic seizures are the most dramatic and prominent aspect of the "alcohol withdrawal syndrome" that occurs when a person abruptly stops a long-term or chronic drinking habit. Researchers have shown that the flow of calcium ions into brain cells via voltage-gated calcium channels plays an important role in the generation of alcohol withdrawal seizures, because blocking this flow suppresses these seizures. Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167471.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167471.php The most common gene for a syndrome associated with abnormal heart rhythms and sudden death triggers epileptic seizures and could explain sudden unexplained death in epilepsy, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears today in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Epilepsy Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167357.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167357.php A Duke University Medical Center researcher who spent years looking for the signals that prompt the brain to form new connections between neurons has found one that may explain precisely how a well-known drug for epilepsy and pain actually works. The finding may also point to new therapies for brain injury and neuropathic pain. The role of neurons in the brain and nervous system is well known, but astrocytes, a different type of brain cell, still are largely a mystery. Epilepsy Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166984.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166984.php Researchers have launched an online registry that ultimately aims to help children with a severe type of epilepsy that strikes in the first months of life. It is believed to be the first worldwide registry of children with infantile spasms and is a collaboration between Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Chicago. Epilepsy Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166888.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166888.php Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a key molecular player in guiding the formation of synapses - the all-important connections between nerve cells - in the brain. This discovery, based on experiments in cell culture and in mice, could advance scientists' understanding of how young children's brains develop as well as point to new approaches toward countering brain disorders in adults. Epilepsy Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166513.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166513.php The United States lags behind other wealthy countries on "preventable deaths," those caused by illnesses and injuries that should not kill at an early age, and it has been falling further behind over the past decade. The Washington Post reports: "Although the United States now spends $2. Diabetes Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166427.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166427.php Routine stroke prevention therapies are underused in the very elderly, but could be very effective in this age group. The issues are discussed in a Review published Online First and in the November edition of The Lancet Neurology, written by Dr Nerses Sanossian and Dr Bruce Ovbiagele, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. As the average human lifespan increases there are more individuals above the age of 80 years who have a high quality of life. Stroke Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166181.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166181.php A review published Online First and in the November edition of The Lancet Neurology reports that routine stroke prevention therapies are underused in the very elderly, but could be very effective in this age group. The article is the work of Dr Nerses Sanossian of the University of Southern California and Dr Bruce Ovbiagele of the UCLA Stroke Center and Department of Neurology, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Stroke Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/165658.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/165658.php New research to be published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology reports the pregnancy complications experienced by women with epilepsy and examines the use of antiepileptic drugs (AED) for treatment during pregnancy. Epileptic women (around 0.3-0.7% of the population) who become pregnant are classified as high-risk because prolonged fits can be dangerous for the baby as well as the mother. Epilepsy Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/165347.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/165347.php Researchers have discovered that epileptic brains are more ordered than non-epileptic ones and also that certain flicking colours seem more likely to cause fits. In 1997, more than seven hundred children in Japan suffered an epileptic attack while watching an episode of Pokemon cartoon. Epilepsy Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/165242.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/165242.php Leon Reijmers, PhD, assistant professor of neuroscience at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, is one of 55 recipients of the National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award. Reijmers is investigating the way memories are stored in the brain, specifically focusing on the proteins involved in long-term memory storage. Groups of neurons that participate in long-term memory storage are called memory traces. Neurology / Neuroscience Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/164816.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/164816.php Lundbeck Inc. ("Lundbeck"), a wholly owned subsidiary of H. Lundbeck A/S in Denmark (Copenhagen: LUN), announced that Sabril® (vigabatrin) Tablets and Powder for Oral Solution are now available for prescribing in the United States. In August 2009, Sabril was approved by the U.S. Epilepsy Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/164503.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/164503.php Mutations in the SCN9A sodium channel gene are a cause of febrile seizures and contribute to a severe form of epilepsy in infants 6 months and younger, report researchers from the University of Utah, University of Antwerp, and University of Washington. Epilepsy Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/164447.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/164447.php In mice that are missing a protein found only in the brain, neural signals "go crazy," leaving the animals with epileptic seizures from a young age, researchers have found. The report in the September 18th Cell, a Cell Press publication, details what it is that happens when the protein encoded by plasticity related gene-1 (PRG-1) gets lost, revealing an important fine-tuning mechanism for brain function. Epilepsy