Epilepsy News and Research

Latest Epilepsy News and Research

NeuroVista technology shows promise in detecting and predicting seizures

Mayo Clinic and partners from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine and College of Pharmacy, the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and NeuroVista Corporation have been awarded $7.5 million grant (U01) from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a division of the National Institutes of Health.

7 Mar 2012

Yoga may be effective in treating patients with stress-related psychological and medical conditions

An article by researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), New York Medical College (NYMC), and the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons (CCPS) reviews evidence that yoga may be effective in treating patients with stress-related psychological and medical conditions such as depression, anxiety, high blood pressure and cardiac disease.

7 Mar 2012

Neuroimaging for stroke patients may be unnecessarily costly and redundant

Neuroimaging for stroke patients may be unnecessarily costly and redundant, contributing to rising costs nationwide for stroke care, according to University of Michigan research.

6 Mar 2012

Gamma Knife vs. craniotomy to treat epilepsy

For about 25 percent of patients suffering from epilepsy, medications do not effectively control the disease and stop seizures. For some, epilepsy surgery is the best answer. In the past, epilepsy surgery meant a craniotomy, which requires a surgeon to open the patient's skull to remove the brain lesion causing epilepsy.

6 Mar 2012

FDA accepts Eisai's resubmission of perampanel NDA for review

Eisai Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review Eisai's resubmission of the New Drug Application (NDA) for perampanel (E2007), an investigational drug, for the treatment of partial-onset seizures associated with epilepsy.

5 Mar 2012

SK Biopharmaceuticals' YKP3089 receives Korea Drug Development Fund

South Korean pharmaceutical company SK Biopharmaceuticals announced that the lead drug, YKP3089, from its drug development program for the treatment of refractory epilepsy, has been awarded funding from the Korea Drug Development Fund to support clinical development for the next three years.

3 Mar 2012

Early surgical intervention stops seizures and improves quality of life

While the thought of any type of surgery can be disconcerting, the thought of brain surgery can be downright frightening. But for people with a particular form of epilepsy, surgical intervention can literally be life-restoring.

3 Mar 2012

CLR01 blocks toxic aggregations of proteins in mouse model of Parkinson's

Millions of people suffer from Parkinson's disease, a disorder of the nervous system that affects movement and worsens over time. As the world's population ages, it's estimated that the number of people with the disease will rise sharply. Yet despite several effective therapies that treat Parkinson's symptoms, nothing slows its progression.

2 Mar 2012

TWRI team develops new drug against damaging effects of stroke

Scientists at the Toronto Western Research Institute (TWRI), Krembil Neuroscience Center, have developed a drug that protects the brain against the damaging effects of a stroke in a lab setting. This drug has been in development for a few years.

1 Mar 2012

Perception of epilepsy is not faring well in social media

A revealing study published in Epilepsy & Behavior provides evidence that the perception of epilepsy is not faring well in social media. Kate McNeil and colleagues from Dalhousie University in Canada analyzed data collected from Twitter to provide a snapshot of how epilepsy is portrayed within the twitter community.

1 Mar 2012

ACTB and ACTG1 actin genes cause Baraitser-Winter syndrome

Scientists from Seattle Children's Research Institute and the University of Washington, in collaboration with the Genomic Disorders Group Nijmegen in the Netherlands, have identified two new genes that cause Baraitser-Winter syndrome, a rare brain malformation that is characterized by droopy eyelids and intellectual disabilities.

1 Mar 2012

CU professor to interview epilepsy sufferers and their families in depth

Sara Shostak, assistant professor in the department of sociology, along with principal investigator Ruth Ottman, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, and other collaborators were recently awarded a $2 million grant from The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to learn more about these questions.

29 Feb 2012

AAN, ALS Association announce creation of Richard Olney Clinician Scientist Development Award

The American Academy of Neurology Foundation and The ALS Association are announcing the creation of the Richard Olney Clinician Scientist Development Award in ALS, named after Richard K. Olney, MD, a leading neurologist and pioneer in clinical ALS research who died late last month of ALS, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

29 Feb 2012

Activating brain's visual cortex improves our sense of smell

A new study reveals for the first time that activating the brain's visual cortex with a small amount of electrical stimulation actually improves our sense of smell.

28 Feb 2012

Diets low in omega-3 fatty acids linked with memory problems

A diet lacking in omega-3 fatty acids, nutrients commonly found in fish, may cause your brain to age faster and lose some of its memory and thinking abilities, according to a study published in the February 28, 2012, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

28 Feb 2012

FDA panel votes in favor of earlier rejected anti-obesity drug Qnexa

Qnexa took a step closer to approval on Wednesday, when outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted 20-to-2 in favor of approval. The panel also recommended the company conduct a study to scrutinize even more closely any risk of heart problems. That study may be required after the drug is approved. Should the FDA ask for further data on heart risks before any approval, it would delay Qnexa's launch further.

26 Feb 2012

Cyberonics third quarter net sales increase 16% to $54.5 million

Cyberonics, Inc. today announced results for the quarter ended January 27, 2012.

24 Feb 2012

Dopamine therapy can boost creativity in patients with Parkinson's

Some Parkinson's Disease patients can suddenly become creative when they take dopamine therapy, producing pictures, sculptures, novels and poetry. But their new-found interests can become so overwhelming that they ignore other aspects of their everyday life, such as daily chores and social activities, according to research published in the March issue of the European Journal of Neurology.

24 Feb 2012

UA researchers identify the likely culprit of epilepsy

Only 10 years ago, deciphering the genetic information from one individual in a matter of weeks to find a certain disease-causing genetic mutation would have been written off as science fiction. It was the time of the Human Genome Project, and it had taken armies of sequencing robots working around the clock for almost a decade to unravel the complete sequence of the human genetic code - referred to as the genome - by churning out the DNA alphabet letter by letter.

24 Feb 2012

New phone number to University of Michigan memory loss and dementia services

Her diagnosis was scary: Alzheimer's Disease. So Myriam Torres was desperate for accurate information and help with coping with what the future might bring.

23 Feb 2012