Genetics, Pediatric Epilepsy, SUDEP
A round-up of epilepsy news from the past month.
Pediatric Epilepsy
Used in addition to standard treatments, therapeutic hypothermia - based on lowering the body’s temperature - can shorten the duration of long-lasting seizures in drug-resistant forms of epilepsy, a study finds.
AEDs taken during pregnancy do not increase the number of de novo variants in the baby, irrespective of whether the baby had birth defects or not.
Different laboratories may show clinically substantial conflict in some interpretations of genetic variants in patients with epilepsy, according to a study.
SUDEP
Epilepsy patients in the poorest communities are more than twice as likely to suffer sudden unexplained death due to epilepsy (SUDEP) than their counterparts at the highest end of the socioeconomic ladder.
According to Professor O’Brien, people with PNES have a similar mortality rate to those with drug-resistant epilepsy.
Older US veterans who developed unprovoked seizures of unknown etiology had double the risk of developing dementia over several years of follow-up, according to a study published online in JAMA Neurology.
Depression is common and associated with reduced quality of life (QoL) in people with epilepsy (PWE). Although multiple studies have investigated the relevant predictors, the results have been inconsistent. This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the risk factors that might increase the possibility of depression in this population.
Researchers have identified a critical new step in how brain cells function in people with one of the most common forms of epilepsy. This could lead to new treatment approaches for people with drug-resistant epilepsy.
