Epilepsy News and Research

Latest Epilepsy News and Research

Brain 'talks' to computer by saying/thinking of a particular sound

Patients with a temporary surgical implant have used regions of the brain that control speech to "talk" to a computer for the first time, manipulating a cursor on a computer screen simply by saying or thinking of a particular sound.

8 Apr 2011

GlaxoSmithKline, XenoPort receive FDA approval for Horizant to treat RLS

On April 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Horizant Extended Release Tablets, a once-daily treatment for moderate-to-severe restless legs syndrome.

8 Apr 2011

CFFT, Vertex collaborate to develop new medicines for cystic fibrosis

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. today announced they will collaborate on the continued discovery and development of new medicines known as correctors that aim to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis in people with the most common form of the disease.

8 Apr 2011

Pitt, UPCI researchers' cancer studies presented at AACR meeting

How do certain multiple myeloma treatment drugs cause complications? How does the immune system become dysfunctional due to cancer? How safe is a vaccine that could prevent development of precancerous colon polyps? Those are among the many questions that will be answered by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine during the American Association for Cancer Research 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, April 2 to 6, in Orlando, Fla.

7 Apr 2011

Workers exposed to welding fumes may face risk of developing brain damage

New research suggests that workers exposed to welding fumes may be at risk for developing brain damage in an area of the brain also affected in Parkinson's disease. The study is published in the April 6, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

7 Apr 2011

Previously unknown mechanism blocks rewarding effects of alcohol on the brain

In order to develop new medications for alcoholism, researchers need to understand how alcohol acts on the brain's reward system. A previously unknown mechanism has been shown to block the rewarding effects of alcohol on the brain, reveals a thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

5 Apr 2011

Researchers identify new gene that can influence person's risk of developing epilepsy

Vanderbilt University researchers have identified a new gene that can influence a person's risk for developing epilepsy. The findings, reported in the March 29 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could improve molecular diagnostic tools and point to novel therapeutic targets for epilepsy.

5 Apr 2011

Invida, Roche partner to commercialize primary care products

Invida Group Pte Ltd, the leading specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the commercialization of healthcare products throughout Asia Pacific, today announced that it has entered into a partnership agreement with Roche for the commercialization and marketing of that company's primary care portfolio throughout Korea.

1 Apr 2011

Vertex announces final results from Phase 3 REALIZE study against HCV

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced final results from its pivotal Phase 3 REALIZE study that evaluated people with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C whose prior treatment with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin was unsuccessful either because they relapsed, had a partial response or had a null response.

1 Apr 2011

AAN honors Mayo Clinic researcher with John Dystel Prize for MS work

The American Academy of Neurology is awarding the 2011 John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research to Brian G. Weinshenker, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and a Fellow with the AAN.

1 Apr 2011

Vertex announces interim results from VX-222 ongoing Phase 2 study against hepatitis C

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced interim results from an ongoing Phase 2 study designed to assess the safety and tolerability of 12-week response-guided treatment regimens with its polymerase inhibitor, VX-222, and its protease inhibitor, telaprevir, in combination with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin in people with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C who were new to treatment.

31 Mar 2011

New stereo-EEG method can detect epileptic foci during surgeries

The neurosurgery department of HUCH has started to utilize stereo-EEG method for localizing the epileptic focus in severe epilepsy for epilepsy surgery purposes. The department is also getting ready to introduce the so-called deep brain stimulation therapy in the treatment of epilepsy.

30 Mar 2011

Valeant receives European Commission marketing authorization for Trobalt

Meda's partner for retigabine, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., today announced that the European Commission has granted the marketing authorization for Trobalt™ (retigabine) in the epilepsy therapy area.

30 Mar 2011

Positive results from Vertex VX-770 Phase 3 trial against CF

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced positive results from a 24-week analysis of the ongoing Phase 3 ENVISION study of VX-770, an oral medicine in development that targets the defective protein that causes cystic fibrosis.

30 Mar 2011

EC grants marketing authorization for GSK, Valeant's Trobalt to treat epilepsy

GlaxoSmithKline and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. announced today that the European Commission has granted marketing authorisation for Trobalt as an adjunctive treatment of partial onset seizures, with or without secondary generalisation in adults aged 18 years and above with epilepsy.

30 Mar 2011

Study: Marijuana use may affect cognitive skills in patients with MS

Any possible pain relief that marijuana has for people with multiple sclerosis may be outweighed by the drug's apparent negative effect on thinking skills, according to research published in the March 29, 2011, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

29 Mar 2011

Alternative anti-inflammatory approach to epilepsy management

If common anticonvulsant drugs fail to manage epileptic seizures, then perhaps the anti-inflammatory route is the way to go. That's according to Mattia Maroso and colleagues from the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, Italy, who found that giving mice repeated doses of a specific enzyme inhibitor significantly reduced both chronic epileptic activity and acute seizures.

28 Mar 2011

Findings conflict with traditional view of how epileptic seizures begin

The first study to examine the activity of hundreds of individual human brain cells during seizures has found that seizures begin with extremely diverse neuronal activity, contrary to the classic view that they are characterized by massively synchronized activity.

28 Mar 2011

Major breakthrough in brain signal processing

A team of Neuroscientists from NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, have made a major breakthrough in understanding how signals are processed in the human brain.

28 Mar 2011

Researchers identify gene that can predict hypersensitivity to epilepsy drug

Research published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. A multinational team of scientists led by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the University of Liverpool has identified a gene that could indicate if epilepsy patients starting a common drug treatment are likely to experience side-effects ranging from a mild skin irritation to the potentially fatal Steven-Johnson Syndrome.

25 Mar 2011