Generalized 3 Hz spike and wave discharges in a child with childhood absence epilepsy. Approximately 30 per cent of patients with epilepsy do not respond to anti-epileptic drugs. In these cases, all neurologists can do is attempt to find the right combination of medication through trial and error. A treatment that could target the...
Tag: <span>epilepsy</span>
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What are ketogenic diets? Can they treat epilepsy and brain cancer?
Ketogenic diets are back in the news with claims they are a “cure-all”. Research shows that in epilepsy not controlled by current treatment, around 50% of children and adults following ketogenic diets have a reduction in seizures. For brain cancer, most research has been in animals. A number of human trials are underway testing safety, tolerance, interactions with other treatments, side-effects and the impact on...
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Medical Marijuana and Epilepsy
CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS Medical marijuana is the whole plant of marijuana used for medical purposes. Cannabinoids refer to substances in cannabis that act on cells in the body to cause some effect. The two major ingredients in cannabinoids are: tetrahyrdocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). There is evidence that cannabis can be helpful in controling seizures, especially for...
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The gene that turns epilepsy treatment deadly
Drug-induced Hyper sensitivity reactions (DIHRs) are serious and life-threatening complications post drug administration. A common example: Antiepileptic drug carbamazepine, however the mechanisms that trigger it are unclear. Current scientific consensus holds that people who have a specific variation of the HLA-B gene (Human leukocyte antigen B) which codes for the protein that plays a crucial...
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Epilepsy and natural treatments: Can they help?
Epilepsy is a disease that disrupts the electrical activity of the nervous system, causing seizures. More than 65 million people in the world have epilepsy. The Epilepsy Foundation estimate that 1 in 26 Americans will develop the disease during their lives. Children are the group most frequently diagnosed with new cases of epilepsy. In the United States, 300,000 children...
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Could fruit and steak cure epilepsy? Study claims that a low-carb, high-fat diet is the key to controlling seizures as it alters the activity of brain cells
Super-refractory status epilepticus is the most severe classification of epilepsy Figures suggest that the deadly form kills around 60 per cent of all sufferers But new research shows a ketogenic diet could alleviate symptoms in patients A diet high in fruit and steak could cure a deadly form of epilepsy, scientists have found. Super-refractory status...
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Modified Atkins diet helps children with rare form of epilepsy
Doose syndrome or myoclonic-astatic epilepsy is a rare syndrome accounting for one to two percent of childhood epilepsies. A ketogenic diet, which is low in carbohydrates and high in fat, is an effective treatment, but it is very restrictive and difficult to follow. In a recent study, 25 of 30 children (83 percent) with Doose...
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New findings about stem cells in the brain of patients with epilepsy
Neural stem cells have been found in epileptic brain tissue — outside the regions of the brain where they normally reside. In a group of patients who underwent surgery for epilepsy, over half had stem cells where healthy individuals do not have them, according to a study from Sahlgrenska Academy. “We have confirmed what earlier...