Featuring the work of former CURE Epilepsy Grantee Dr. Brian Litt.
Penn neurologist Brian Litt’s work on implantable devices for recording and altering brain activity has led to new ways to treat and diagnose epilepsy.
The study, revealed sodium selenate to have a long-lasting effect (after months of stopping the medication) in reducing the frequency of seizures (and in 30% of cases stopping them altogether) and improving other aspects of epilepsy such as memory, learning and sensor-motor functioning.
Pediatric Epilepsy
Our findings that 40% of patients with recurrent pediatric-onset epilepsy could achieve long-term seizure freedom and that all patients with a second seizure recurrence remained seizure free suggest that ASM may be withdrawn for a second time after carefully stratifying clinical risk.
CBD
Three adult patients diagnosed with LGS were treated with CBD as an add-on. During the follow-up, a slight improvement in seizure frequency was observed. Unexpectedly, an amelioration in postural tone and stability, measured using the validated Gross Motor Function Classification System, was also detected.
Chronic antibiotic use may lead to seizure-related reactions in patients, a study conducted at the University of Calicut has found.
Ketogenic Diet
The ketogenic diet, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, is an established treatment for patients with severe epilepsy. We have previously reported a moderate reduction in seizure frequency after treatment with a modified Atkins diet. This study aimed to see whether dietary therapy impacts the patients' health-related quality of life.
Ketogenic Diet
Despite advances in the understanding of dietary therapies in children with drug-resistant epilepsy, no quantitative comparison exists between different dietary interventions.
Body image dissatisfaction, a marker for reduced quality of life (QOL), showed elevated levels of prevalence among adults with epilepsy, according to study findings published in Epilepsy & Behavior.
Researchers from Lund University in Sweden have discovered higher levels of immune proteins in the blood before and after an epileptic seizure. The possible biomarkers can be identified using a simple blood test. Diagnosing epilepsy is currently resource-intensive and distinguishing it from other conditions can be challenging. Better diagnostic methods as soon as the patient seeks medical care after a suspected seizure is therefore an urgent necessity.
