This discovery not only has major implications for treating drug-resistant epilepsy, but there’s a chance it may also be used to treat other neurological conditions caused by overactive neurons, including Parkinson’s disease and migraines.
Researchers sought to formalize how those clocks tick to give people with epilepsy a better idea of how and why their seizures happen, and perhaps to better recognize the early warnings.
Patients who continue to have seizures after resection often have considerable reductions in seizure frequency, and many are able to achieve seizure freedom in a delayed manner.
Although post-surgical seizure freedom is considered the primary goal of epilepsy surgery, other factors that impact Quality of Life (QOL) are also important to consider, including post-surgical cognitive changes. This study aimed to examine the impact of post-surgical cognitive changes on QOL in the context of seizure outcomes.
Genetics
Mutations in the genes encoding neuronal ion channels are a common cause of Mendelian neurological diseases. We sought to identify novel de novosequence variants in cases with early infantile epileptic phenotypes and neurodevelopmental anomalies.
Presurgical testing for drug resistant epilepsy is influenced by U.S. geographic region and other center characteristics. These findings have potential implications for comparing outcomes between U.S. epilepsy centers and may inject disparities in access to surgical treatment.
Epilepsy Awareness Month, new research, upcoming events, the New York City Marathon, and more in this CURE Epilepsy Update.
Contributors to the work include numerous CURE Epilepsy advisors, grantees, and staff. The aim of the CDEs is to improve the standardization of experimental designs across a range of epilepsy research-related methods.
"If we can figure out what brain changes make people have functional seizures, we can begin to look at how we can change that back," said first author Wesley Kerr, M.D., Ph.D., a neurologist and epileptologist at University of Michigan Health.
