Epilepsy News

Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital demonstrated the value of DNA methylation patterns for identifying the root cause of developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs). Their new study shows that specific gene methylation and genome-wide methylation “episignatures” can help identify the genes that cause DEE. DEEs affect 1 in 590 children and involve more than 825 genes. 

Researchers at the Epilepsy Genetics Initiative (ENGIN) at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) used machine learning and artificial intelligence to comb through medical records and use clinical notes to match symptoms with specific genetic epilepsies. Building upon previously developed techniques, the researchers aimed to identify early clinical features that could suggest a genetic diagnosis of epilepsy. 

Researchers from the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered functions of structures in the brain that could help understand and treat several neurological disorders.

A team of epilepsy specialists at University of California San Francisco has developed a method to predict 24-hour seizure risk. The researchers, led by Vikram Rao, MD, PhD, a Distinguished Professor in Neurology, showed that the storm of brain activity characterizing a seizure is presaged by abnormal communication between specific areas of the brain.

According to a new study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Linköping University in Sweden, the general anesthetic propofol may hold the keys to developing new treatment strategies for epilepsy and other neurological disorders.

A class of blood pressure medications, called angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), appear to help lower seniors' risk of developing epilepsy, a new study finds. Overall, people taking ARBs had a 20% to 30% lower risk of developing epilepsy compared with people taking other blood pressure medications.

Dr. Quynh Anh Nguyen, assistant professor of pharmacology at Vanderbilt University, found that the stem of the hippocampus may play a role in epilepsy. Dr Nguyen's study showed the activation in a tiny posterior part of the hippocampus called the fasciola cinereum. Despite the subregion’s obscurity, it looked to be an important and previously overlooked contributor to epilepsy in people who do not respond to anti-seizure medications or tissue ablation in the hippocampus.

Dr. Philippe Ryvlin of the University Hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland, discusses the Human Intracerebral EEG Platform, which is a cloud-based, collaborative environment that encourages the sharing of data and the conducting of research with state-of-the-art methodologies and software. This platform has the potential to drive epilepsy research forward, specifically in the areas of biomarker identification and the use of a virtual brain to inform surgery decisions.

Captain Jack Somer's story highlights crucial questions about PTE's origins and treatments, now being tackled by initiatives like CURE Epilepsy’s PTE Astrocyte Biomarkers Initiative. As research gains momentum, the quest for prevention and effective therapies for PTE intensifies.

A study has found that over half of children and adults with Dravet syndrome have experienced some form of feeding problem, with some reporting multiple issues. Dravet syndrome is a rare and complex type of epilepsy associated with difficult to treat seizures, as well as intellectual and behavioral difficulties.

A subtle type of seizure goes undetected two-thirds of the time in pediatric emergency departments, a new study shows. The work focuses on “nonmotor” seizures, which cause children to ‘zone out’ and stare into space or fidget.

A new Northwestern Medicine study helps explain how changes in the SCN2A gene affect whether a child will develop autism or epilepsy.