Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy News and Research

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Heart rate variability may increase epilepsy risk

Doctors have long characterized epilepsy as a brain disorder, but researchers at Case Western Reserve University have found that part of the autonomic nervous system functions differently in epilepsy during the absence of seizures.This connection to the involuntary division of the nervous system may have implications for diagnosing and treating the disease and understanding sudden unexpected death in epilepsy

10 Mar 2016

Early promise for cannabis extract treatment in epilepsy

A preliminary, open-label study suggests that cannabidiol may be a useful adjunctive treatment in adults and children with intractable epilepsy.

7 Jan 2016

Epilepsy deaths should be considered a public health priority, say doctors

Epilepsy is not a public health priority, yet it takes more lives than sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or fires, according to an article reviewing the topic. Doctors say epilepsy deaths should be a focus of research and education to understand and prevent those deaths, according to the "Views and Reviews" article published in the December 16, 2015, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

17 Dec 2015

Study reveals gene mutation that increases risk of SUDEP in patients with mild forms of disease

Researchers in the Adult Genetic Epilepsy Program of the Krembil Neuroscience Centre have discovered a gene mutation that increases the risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) in patients with mild forms of the disease.

16 Oct 2015

Understanding the causes of sudden death in epilepsy: an interview with Professor Sanjay Sisodiya

SUDEP is the sudden unexpected witnessed or unwitnessed, non-traumatic and non-drowning death in people with epilepsy, with or without evidence of a seizure. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in the known context of a seizure, excluding documented status epilepticus, where people have seizure after seizure.

24 Aug 2015

UNC researchers show how a genetic mutation disables molecular switch and causes autism

Last December, researchers identified more than 1,000 gene mutations in individuals with autism, but how these mutations increased risk for autism was unclear. Now, UNC School of Medicine researchers are the first to show how one of these mutations disables a molecular switch in one of these genes and causes autism.

7 Aug 2015

Big data project: CWRU wins federal grant to develop platform for collection, analysis of clinical data

Case Western Reserve University is one of three institutions nationwide to win federal 'big data' grants focused on developing ways to ensure the integrity and comparability of the reams of information the U.S. health care system collects every day. If successful, the work could create enormous new opportunities to glean insights that help physicians cure or even prevent illness and disease.

16 Jul 2015

Iowa researchers gain important insight into sudden unexpected death in epilepsy

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is becoming increasingly recognized as a very real and devastating problem in which impaired breathing is thought to play a critical role. Researchers believe breathing may be impaired during and after seizures, without the patient's knowledge.

16 Jul 2015

New self-monitoring app introduced to support adults with epilepsy

A new self-monitoring app launched to support adults with epilepsy will help to 'fill the information gap' left by NHS funding cuts for GP epilepsy monitoring, according to specialist epilepsy charity SUDEP Action.

15 Jul 2015

Prone position linked to epilepsy sudden death risk

Around three-quarters of patients who have a sudden unexpected death in epilepsy are found lying in the prone position, show meta-analysis findings.

30 Jan 2015

Scientists receive NIH grants to explore sudden unexpected death in epilepsy

Nine groups of scientists will receive funding totaling $5.9 million in 2014 to work together on increasing the understanding of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), the leading cause of death from epilepsy. The consortium becomes the second Center Without Walls, an initiative to speed the pace of research on difficult problems in epilepsy by promoting collaborative research.

9 Dec 2014

Case Western Reserve selected to lead $27.3 million international effort to identify causes of SUDEP

Case Western Reserve is one of two universities in the country selected to lead a $27.3 million international effort to identify the causes of a mysterious and deadly phenomenon that strikes people with epilepsy without warning.

9 Dec 2014

Study shows link between cardiac abnormalities, sudden unexpected death in epilepsy

Groundbreaking findings describing the link between cardiac abnormalities and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) will be presented at the American Epilepsy Society's Annual Meeting in December.

7 Dec 2014

Caregivers more aware of SUDEP than patients

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is concerning and many—even those with seizure disorders—may not be aware of this condition. New research published in Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), reports that 76% of caregivers are more likely to have heard of SUDEP compared with 65% of patients with epilepsy.

16 Oct 2014

People who have uncontrolled seizures are at heightened risk for SUDEP

One in 26 Americans will develop epilepsy over the course of a lifetime leading to nearly three million Americans now living with epilepsy. For nearly one-third of them, their seizures are uncontrolled by medicine and other common forms of treatment.

6 May 2014

CDC and NIH collaborate to create Sudden Death in Young Registry

A registry of deaths in young people from conditions such as heart disease and epilepsy is being created to help researchers define the scope of the problem and set future research priorities. The National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are collaborating to create the Sudden Death in the Young Registry.

24 Oct 2013

EEG marker unlikely to predict epilepsy death

Prolonged postictal generalized electroencephalography suppression is an “inconsistent” finding in patients with epilepsy, say researchers.

30 Aug 2013

Certain SSRI medications fail to achieve same selectivity for prevention of SUDEP

Scientists from Southern Illinois University today reported the results of a study evaluating the potential effect of two selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) antidepressant medications in reducing the risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).

4 Dec 2012

Study: 1 in 26 may develop epilepsy at some point in life

A landmark study from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports that your chance of developing epilepsy at some point in your life is one in 26. Onset is highest in children and older adults. But epilepsy knows no boundaries—it can strike at any age and across all socio-economic levels and ethnicities. There is no known cure and one-third of people with epilepsy have treatment-resistant or refractory epilepsy.

17 Apr 2012

SSRIs may minimize risk of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy

A groundbreaking study published in Elsevier's Epilepsy & Behavior provides evidence in mouse model that drugs known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs; one category of antidepressants) may reduce the risk of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).

9 Feb 2012