Seizure News and Research

Latest Seizure News and Research

Otsuka receives FDA approval for ABILIFY MAINTENA to treat schizophrenia

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Otsuka) and H. Lundbeck A/S (Lundbeck) announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ABILIFY MAINTENA (aripiprazole) for extended- release injectable suspension, an intramuscular (IM) depot formulation indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia.

1 Mar 2013

Brain cooling after severe head injury may prevent epileptic seizures

In the weeks, months and years after a severe head injury, patients often experience epileptic seizures that are difficult to control. A new study in rats suggests that gently cooling the brain after injury may prevent these seizures.

22 Feb 2013

Researchers uncover neurological basis of speech motor control

A team of researchers at UC San Francisco has uncovered the neurological basis of speech motor control, the complex coordinated activity of tiny brain regions that controls our lips, jaw, tongue and larynx as we speak.

21 Feb 2013

UCB seeks FDA and EMA marketing authorization for Cimzia to treat active psoriatic arthritis

UCB announced today two new regulatory filings with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to extend the marketing authorization for Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) for the treatment of adult patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and for adult patients with active axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).

20 Feb 2013

UCLA plays a vital role in ongoing research into Rasmussen encephalitis

How do you find a cure for a devastating pediatric brain disease so rare that it can take decades to build a meaningful research base? In 2010, the parents of a patient created the Rasmussen Encephalitis (RE) Children's Project to help solve this problem. In a short amount of time, the foundation has raised funds to establish a consortium of top researchers, build a collection of samples of the disease from around the world and support projects to study the disease tissue and search for genetic links. The goal is to find a cure.

20 Feb 2013

MSU to launch levetiracetam clinical trial for treatment of African children with epilepsy

Determined to bring relief to seizure victims, a Michigan State University research team this month begins a groundbreaking clinical drug trial that could help prevent a quarter-million African children from developing epilepsy each year.

16 Feb 2013

Valproate, pregnancy and IQ: an interview with Professor Kimford Meador

Valproate (sodium salt of valproic acid) is an anticonvulsant used in the treatment of epilepsy, migraine and bipolar disorder as well as some other off label psychiatric indications.

11 Feb 2013

Migraine, epilepsy and genetics: an interview with Dr. Melodie Winawer

This work is the product of an extraordinary consortium called the Epilepsy Phenome/Genome project (EPGP). It is a consortium of 27 centres in the U.S. and internationally with several hundred physicians and staff who have worked together to enrol more than 4000 patients with epilepsy and their family members.

7 Feb 2013

Scientists identify cause of certain forms of epilepsy in cats

There is something sinister about epilepsy: the disease affects the very core of our being, our brain. Epileptic attacks can lead to seizures throughout the body or in parts of it. Clouding of consciousness or memory lapses are also possible. The causes are still only partially understood but in some cases brain tumours, infections, inflammations of the brain or metabolic diseases have been implicated.

2 Feb 2013

Cerebrolysin: a promising new treatment for dementia

Dementia patients may benefit from a promising new treatment called Cerebrolysin, according to the results of a systematic review published in The Cochrane Library. The authors brought together the most up-to-date evidence on Cerebrolysin as a treatment for vascular dementia.

31 Jan 2013

Brain areas work together at the same time to recall memories

Working with patients with electrodes implanted in their brains, researchers at the University of California, Davis, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have shown for the first time that areas of the brain work together at the same time to recall memories. The unique approach promises new insights into how we remember details of time and place.

30 Jan 2013

Neuroscientists develop new way to stop epileptic seizures with fiber-optic light signals

UC Irvine neuroscientists have developed a way to stop epileptic seizures with fiber-optic light signals, heralding a novel opportunity to treat the most severe manifestations of the brain disorder.

28 Jan 2013

Look for narrative ability in children with epilepsy

Children with chronic epilepsy have significantly decreased language skill abilities, particularly narrative ability, compared with their unaffected peers, report US researchers.

25 Jan 2013

Management of hospital-onset seizures lacks standards

Seizures in patients admitted to hospital for nonseizure reasons – hospital-onset seizures – largely affect those without any history of seizures, often recur, and are linked to a high mortality, according to a study in JAMA Neurology.

21 Jan 2013

Head-scratching persists despite nodding syndrome study

Nodding syndrome is an epileptic disorder, with telltale nodding episodes caused by atonic seizures, concludes a pioneering study of the mysterious neurologic illness that has been reported in only three African countries.

17 Jan 2013

Some epileptic seizures may originate in glia: Study

Epileptic seizures occur when neurons in the brain become excessively active. However, a new study from MIT neuroscientists suggests that some seizures may originate in non-neuronal cells known as glia, which were long believed to play a mere supporting role in brain function.

17 Jan 2013

Pill color switch disrupts medication adherence

Simply changing the appearance of a prescription medication can significantly alter patients’ compliance with treatment, study findings show.

14 Jan 2013

Pannexin1 channel protein critical for memory and orientation

The channel protein Pannexin1 keeps nerve cells flexible and thus the brain receptive for new knowledge. Together with colleagues from Canada and the U.S., researchers at the Ruhr-Universit-t Bochum led by the junior professor Dr. Nora Prochnow from the Department of Molecular Brain Research describe these results in PLoS ONE.

10 Jan 2013

Epilepsy, migraine susceptibility kept in the family

Researchers report that there is a shared genetic susceptibility to epilepsy and migraine with aura.

9 Jan 2013

New research reveals a shared genetic susceptibility to epilepsy and migraine

New research reveals a shared genetic susceptibility to epilepsy and migraine. Findings published in Epilepsia, a journal of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), indicate that having a strong family history of seizure disorders increases the chance of having migraine with aura (MA).

7 Jan 2013