Epilepsy-implant test

Janet Bigley just wants to get back to work.

She's hoping the device that was implanted in her head Wednesday will allow that.

Bigley was the first person in Kansas to receive a "brain pacemaker," designed to recognize and stop epileptic seizures in the same way that a cardiac pacemaker keeps a heart beating normally.
Bigley is part of a nationwide trial of the Responsive Neurostimulator, or RNS, made by NeuroPace. The Via Christi Comprehensive Epilepsy Center is one of about 25 sites participating in the trial.

The RNS is implanted under the scalp and connected to wires with electrodes at the end. They're placed on or in the brain, in the area where the seizures are believed to originate. When the RNS detects unusual brain wave activity, it sends electricity through the wires to stop the seizure.

The device has been tested for safety in 65 patients; in this part of the trial, it will be tested for effectiveness in 240 patients. A NeuroPace representative said about 15 patients had received the device to date.

Wednesday's procedure took about five hours and seems to have gone well, said physician Kore Liow, director of the epilepsy program at Via Christi.

Bigley won't know for five months whether her RNS is firing. In the trial, half the patients will have their RNS turned on; half will have it turned off, Liow said. Even her doctors won't know which group Bigley is in. At the end of five months, the device will be turned on if it wasn't already on.

The RNS is designed for people who aren't candidates for epilepsy surgery and who haven't responded to medication.

Liow said an estimated 2.5 million people -- 40,000 of them in Kansas -- have epilepsy. "One out of three epilepsy patients do not respond to medication, so we are looking at potential benefit for a good group of people."

Bigley, who is 54, said she has had epilepsy for about 30 years and has been on any number of medications.

She worked 24 years at Safelite Auto Glass, doing a little bit of everything until the company closed its manufacturing plant in April 2005. When she'd have a seizure there, co-workers would help and watch out for her until the seizure ended.

"They put up with it," she said. "Now I can't find a job because I'm taking 15 pills a day for my seizures, and nobody wants to hire a person who's taking all those pills."

Even with the medication, she was having seizures -- she'd had seven this month before going into the hospital Tuesday. "Sometimes if the weather changes I'll have one. And if I get overtired, I'll have one. Different things set them off."

She compared her seizures to blacking out and losing "a little bit of time." Sometimes, she'd stand and fall over something. Her Pekingese, Coco, used to go to the intercom and bark when she'd have a seizure, but he's getting too old to do that, she said. Her husband, John, fears working in the garage now because he worries something will happen when he's not there.

Bigley was referred to Liow, who told her about the RNS. "They are just hoping this will work," she said.

So is she: "I'm just bored to death sitting at home. I want a job. And if I can get to where I can work again, I'll be glad to. Because it drives me crazy just sitting home."

Results of research on Epilepsy

New epilepsy research on how the brain responds to seizures has been presented at Ireland’s first Neuroscience Ireland meeting.

Dr David Henshall, senior lecturer in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), conducted the epilepsy research, which found that new genes involved in cell death could provide therapeutic opportunities for the treatment of brain injury associated with epilepsy.

“We know that certain seizures can harm the brain so neuroprotective treatments are an attractive goal if we can understand the cell death process,” Dr Henshall told the meeting, which was held last week.

“We’re seeing activation of Bcl-2 family genes, previously implicated in cell suicide within parts of the brain at risk of damage during an episode. When these genes are knocked out, we can influence the harmful effect of the seizure. Because we’re seeing these genes respond in brain samples from patients with drug-resistant epilepsy, we are collaborating with Dr Norman Delanty, at Beaumont Hospital and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) to look for mutations in these genes in the Irish epilepsy population.

“We hope this approach will lead us to new therapeutic targets to reduce brain injury and prevent seizures in patients with epilepsy,” Dr Henshall said.

Over 150 neuroscientists from Ireland and other countries attended the meeting, held in University College Cork (UCC).

New drug to treat grand mal seizures

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration again has extended its marketing approval for GlaxoSmithKline's epilepsy treatment Lamictal.

London-based GSK said Wednesday that the FDA has approved the anti-seizure medication for use in treating one of the most serious forms of epilepsy - primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures, also known as "grand mal" seizures.

With the new approval, Lamictal can be used to treat grand mal seizures in children as young as 2 years old and in adults.

The latest approval marks the fifth time the FDA has granted a marketing extension for the drug's use in combating epilepsy. Lamictal is also used as a maintenance therapy for adults with bipolar I disorder.

Clinical trials of the drug indicated that grand mal seizures declined by 66 percent in patients receiving Lamictal. Patients receiving a placebo experienced a 34 percent decline.

GSK (NYSE: GSK) has dual U.S. headquarters in Research Triangle Park and Philadelphia. The company employs more than 5,600 Triangle workers.

Father accused of murdering baby may have suffered from seizures

A murder-accused who told police he dropped his baby into bathwater after slipping and knocking himself unconscious had suffered epileptic seizures in the past, a court has been told.

Kevin Joseph Charles Little, 27, of Kaitangata, South Otago, is charged with murdering his seven-month-old daughter Alyssa Patricia Little-Murphy on March 25 at Nelson.

A depositions hearing is being held in the Nelson District Court.

Giving evidence today, neurosurgeon Venkataraman Balakrishnan said that after looking at photographs of the bathroom where Alyssa was found floating face down in the bath and a forehead injury to Little, he believed it was conceivable Little might have struck his forehead either on an open vanity door or the edge of a ceramic vanity.

But he said considerable force on the vanity top would be needed to render a person unconscious for one to two minutes.

Dr Balakrishnan is a consultant neurosurgeon for the Capital and Coast District Health Board, and the director of neurosurgery at Waikato District Health Board.

Under questioning by Little's lawyer Anne Stevens, Mr Balakrishnan said it was possible Little could have suffered an epileptic seizure.

He agreed that a medical letter from 1989 indicated Little, at the age of 10, sustained a head injury from playing football and then had epileptic seizures.

Three other pages from Little's medical history showed he had sustained head injuries in 1999 and 2000.

The hearing continues.

A chance for a seizures free life!

In two days, doctors planned to cut out part of James Huffman's brain. So his wife threw him a party.

On July 15, everyone gathered at their home in Port Richey. Friends and family milled around outside. James, 43, sat on the hood of a car, talking with his mother, Dana.

Then a feeling came over him, an "aura." He put his left hand over his eyes. His right arm shot out, as if for balance. He leaned back on the car.

Dana Huffman knew what to do: Try to make sure he doesn't hit his head. Shade him from the sun.
A minute later, it was over. James sat up.

The pending surgery might eliminate moments like this, which have inflicted him with 33 years worth of embarrassment and uncertainty.

"I don't want to have to worry about leaving work early or hurting my kids," James said. "I don't want to worry about scaring people away from me. People get nervous when I have a seizure around them."

On the day of his party alone, James had six. A video camera captured one. James, standing in his yard, put his left hand over his eyes. He sank to the ground, rolled to his right four times, ending up on his elbows.

For James, the bottom line never changes: "I always have this feeling that something bad will happen today."

* * *

November 1973, Union Lake, Michigan. Jimmy Huffman, 11 years old, was in gym class. At the end, the teacher told him to put away the basketballs. One boy wouldn't return his ball, so Jimmy took it from him. After school, the boy and some of his friends went after Jimmy as he walked home. They kicked and punched him.

"He came in the house and said he was fine," Dana said. "We never even took him in for X-rays or anything. He had some scrapes on him."

* * *

That January, the Huffmans returned from a Florida vacation. An ice storm interrupted the drive home from the airport, and they ended up spending the night at the home of Dana's sister.

The next morning, James wandered into the kitchen. Three cousins sat at the kitchen table, eating cereal.

James: I heard my cousins having breakfast. That's all I remember.

He remembers nothing of this seizure, or any of the multitude he has endured. Others fill in the blanks.

Dana: He had a strange look on his face. He put his arms out like an airplane ... I remember him going into a spin. You know how boys are, so I said, 'Stop that, you're scaring me.' But his eyes rolled into his head and he convulsed on the floor. I thought he died.

Doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. "They put him on medication," Dana said. "In the beginning, his first neurologist treated him like I was exaggerating, like I was a hysterical, overprotective mother."

James' life changed. School kids said he stuck his fingers up his nose when he had seizures and nicknamed him "Double Barrel Nose Picker."

* * *

Eventually, doctors said James had epilepsy, the diagnosis they give someone who has at least two seizures not caused by a known medical condition.

Back then, no one could tell the Huffmans why James had epilepsy. The family figured there must be a connection to the beating James endured just before his first seizure.

Epilepsy affects about 2.8-million Americans and 160,000 Floridians. The disease is incurable, but medications help most epileptics lead fairly normal lives. But roughly one in seven have cases so severe that even medication does not control the seizures.

James is one of them.

As a child, James would thrash in his bed at night, sometimes falling on the floor. His family grew accustomed to gathering in his bedroom.

James would wake to the sound of his mother's voice.

His sister Tammy recalls: My mom would say, 'Where do you live? What's your name? What's your address?' " She would try to get his mind back to working. He would be lying on the floor, trying to get his senses. Sometimes, it would be an all-nighter - four or five times a night.

* * *

When he was 18, James wanted to join the Air Force.

"I tried dancing around my medical history, but I couldn't," he said. "They said, 'Any epilepsy in your family?' I said, 'Yeah, me.' I was aggravated."

James moved to Florida and worked odd jobs. He met future wife Jennifer in 1993 at the Palm Harbor Wal-Mart where they worked. At the time, James had a broken foot.

A joker, James tried to impress her. Though injured, he would run up and down the stairs to get packages. At first, she thought he was annoying.

But James grew on her. Jennifer had worked in a nursing home, and was used to caring for people. Soon, the fun-loving James and nurturing Jennifer were inseparable.

"He told me from the start, when we started going out," Jennifer said. "He explained that he is an epileptic, and how his seizures were bad when he was little. It wasn't like he was worried what I would think. It was, 'It's something you have to think about if we are going to be together.'"

* * *

That fall, Jennifer was at James' house. He was sitting on the couch when he suddenly grabbed his head with his left hand - the precursor, she knew, to a seizure.

"It was just us, and he did the same hand over the eye thing and then rolled on the carpet," she said. "I kind of knew from talking to his neurologist not to hold him down. I was thinking, 'It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.' I guess you assume it's like people foaming at the mouth."

Sometimes, James had seizures at work, and Jennifer would have to take him home.

James: I was in an aisle between food and apparel. I fell on the floor and people were gathering around. I remember putting my hand on my head and trying to protect my head. About 10 people gathered. I said, 'I'm okay.' And then I went to the back of the building and sat down.

They married in 1994 and have two sons. Nathan is 23 months old. Matthew is 7. James is now an assistant manager at the Palm Harbor store.

Jennifer stopped working last year when James' seizures became more frequent. The boys have learned to adjust.

"Nathan knows to stay away," Jennifer said. "Even in the hospital, Matthew says to the nurses, 'It's okay. My daddy is having a seizure. Don't hold him. It's okay."'

James hopes nothing happens when the boys turn 11, the age when he had his first seizure.

* * *

For James, each seizure has a Groundhog Day-like feeling.

"It goes over and over again. It feels like you've done this before."

Once, Jennifer left the shower and found James lying on the floor in Matthew's room where the boys had been playing. He was drooling.

The room was dark. James was alone.

James: She slapped me, and I woke up. I said, 'I'm playing with Nathan.'

Jennifer: I said, No, you're not.

* * *

At 8:05 a.m. on March 24, 2005, James was driving north in the outside lane on U.S. 19, headed home from the night shift at Wal-Mart.

He lost control of his electric blue 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse. The car spun counterclockwise, crossed the remaining three northbound lanes, the median and all four southbound lanes. It ended up in a retention pond. No one was injured.

James remembers only the before and after: I recall feeling the seizure coming on. I thought I was pulling to the right side of the road, but I guess I was pulling to the left.

John Manna, community service officer with the Florida Highway Patrol, who interviewed James at the scene: He had no recollection at all of having the seizure directly after the crash ... everybody was amazed that he crossed all four lanes and nobody hit him.

* * *

Despite that incident, James drove for nine more months. But on the way to work last November, he felt the aura.

He pulled into a Hess station in Palm Harbor and called Jennifer to come get him. While he waited, James got bored. He counted seizures on a note pad.

The count reached 40.

At Regional Medical Center at Bayonet Point, doctors said he had a stroke. They gave him medication and sent him home.

A month later, James' neurologist performed an MRI. There had been no stroke.

Instead, doctors found an abnormality on the left side of his brain. James was referred to Bayfront Medical Center's comprehensive epilepsy program in St. Petersburg.

The abnormality was a cluster of nerve cells. In normal people, those cells disperse to the outer cortex of the brain. In James, they remained a clump. No one knows why. Doctors said these cells caused James' seizures.

It was not the childhood fight.

* * *

The discovery gave James something he had gone without for decades: hope.

Doctors said they could cut out the aberrant cells after precisely locating them using a process called brain mapping. Bayfront is one of five hospitals in the state that perform the surgery, which costs between $50,000 and $200,000.

Doctors there perform the procedure about 10 times a year. They say it had about a 50-50 chance of a cure and an 80 percent chance of reducing the rate of James' seizures.

The surgery is risky. The clump of bad cells was near part of his brain controlling memory and motor function, so James considered living with gaps in his memory or weakness in his right hand.
James wondered what kind of man he'd be if things worked in his favor.

"It took 33 years," he said, "to find the light at the end of the tunnel."

* * *

Before surgery, James prepared his sons for the worst.

If I lose movement in my right hand, he told them, grab my left one. Three squeezes means I love you.

* * *

James began a 12-day stay at Bayfront on July 17, a Monday.

Around 10:30 a.m., Dr. Kirk Jobe began, under the glow of 10 fluorescent lights. Doctors used a drill the size of an electric toothbrush to cut into James' head. They pulled out a 4- by 3-inch patch of skull and put it into a plastic container with saline and antibiotics.

Doctors placed a grid numbered 1 through 64 on his brain and sutured it in place. Each grid is tiny: five of them would cover maybe a square inch of brain surface. Electrodes connected the grid to an EEG machine, which measures electrical activity in the brain.

* * *

On Wednesday and Friday, in sessions lasting about four hours each, doctors precisely mapped the location of the clump of bad cells.

James sat up in his bed. A white bandage covered his head. Dr. Erasmo Passaro, a neurologist, sat in a chair next to James.

A simulator, a machine the size of a boom box, sat on a table next to his bed. The simulator connected to the EEG machine, which connected to electrodes on James' brain.

Passaro turned the simulator's black knobs to send an electrical current to each of the 64 boxes in the grid, one at a time.

It's like a high-tech game of battleship, where doctors tried to precisely locate the clump of bad cells. Just as critical, they identified areas that should not be removed.

James, awake for the procedure, was the other player.

"Stick your tongue out really fast," Passaro instructed. The medical team closely watched James' reactions to the stimulus. At one point, James' tongue retracted.

"I didn't do that," he told Passaro.

"That means we're in the tongue area, don't touch that," Passaro said. "If we touch that, he won't be able to talk."

* * *

The surgery to remove the damaged part of James' brain was July 26. Again, James was awake.
Before surgery, doctors performed a last round of checks to insure the accuracy of the map they had made of James' brain.

Two doctors ducked beneath a baby blue cloth hung like a hood above James' head. As Passaro stimulated the numbered grids, they asked James if he felt anything.

James' right eye twitched. Later, he said, "I felt my finger move."

Four hours later, surgery is over. Doctors say things went well. James went home on July 28, the top of his head marked by a semicircle of staples that look like baseball stitching.

* * *

It's been eight weeks since the surgery - and no seizures. Doctors won't consider him cured until he's gone a year without one.

Then, with a doctor's consent, he'll be able to do something he hasn't in almost a year: drive.
"I have always tried to keep my life as normal as possible," he said last week. "I try not to worry about having seizures. I tell myself I won't have any. But I didn't feel limited before. The only thing I can't do is drive. I want to drive to Michigan to see my mom. She gave up (two months) of her life to be here."

* * *

James turned 44 on Aug. 8. He returned to work on Labor Day. He's cautiously hopeful as he begins living the life of a normal man. And he is grateful for the chance.

"I didn't want," he said, "to be the little engine that could who didn't try."

Little girl suffering from seizures is getting ready for surgery!

Five-year-old Liza Sedlacek is wrapped in a prayer shawl.She is surrounded by about 20 people who gather at First Congregational Church in Greeley to summon prayers for her.Her father, Roger Sedlacek, keeps an arm around his wife, Allison, as she wipes away tears. Mason Sedlacek, 10, playfully elbows his sister, Ellery, 8, and then sits still, a sturdy support as she, too, wipes away tears and rests her head on his shoulder.

Liza seems oblivious to the conflicting emotions of hope and heartache choking the room.She breaks the solemnity when she hollers out, "Alan!" spotting one of her favorite people in the back of the room.In Alan's arms, Liza sways to a pianist's tune of "Jesus Loves Me" as if she knows He does.Liza brought these people together -- adults who she taught how to love again, believers whose faith she strengthened.

This is the last time they will see Liza before she is quarantined two weeks before a potentially life-saving brain surgery.As they say good-bye, they are left to wonder at what cost do the lessons from Liza flow? Why has the God who loves her so chosen to use her as His hammer and tool?Since she was 6 months old, Liza has fought seizures that threaten her life, suffering to a point where her father pleads for intervention from a higher power:

Please, God, fix her or take her.She has blessed people generations her senior, but now Liza is the one in need of a blessing. She was born with a rare medical condition called focal cortical dysplasia, which causes epileptic seizures.Liza was scheduled to undergo brain surgery in March 2007 at Children's Hospital in Denver. But the doctors feared she wouldn't last that long and bumped her up the list -- a blessed curse.

A successful operation could eliminate intense seizures that knock her out of bed nightly and shake her brain like an Etch-A-Sketch, erasing her abilities to talk and walk.A successful operation could also leave her blind or inflict learning disabilities.Just weeks away from Liza's big day, the questions beg to be asked: Who will Liza be after all this? Will she remain the child whose hazel eyes speak volumes of fear when she tries, but can't force the words from her mouth? Will she still have an affinity for music? Will she even survive?

Those who know Liza wonder about her fate, but, through her, they have already found answers to so much more."There is a God power guiding Liza," said her aunt, Lee Anne Butler.Maybe Liza's divine duty was to bring others joy through her pain? If so, the plan worked. Just ask those who, in tears, pray today for her healing.The map manBereket Habte, an electroencephalogram(EEG) technician at Children's Hospital, uses yellow measuring tape to guide red marks he colors in on Liza's head.

About a couple dozen electrodes will be glued onto each circle for a week of monitoring seizure activity in Liza's brain.Habte uses a Q-tip to vigorously cleanse the marked areas, distracting Liza from the Dora the Explorer cartoon she is watching on a portable DVD her grandparents bought just for these occasions.Liza looks to her mother."Oooweeeee," she groans."No, no owee," Allison reassures her.Her bottom lip begins trembling a few minutes later, which Allison warns is an early indication of an oncoming seizure.

The monitoring will capture what is happening inside when seizures begin.Liza has been through this step before. She was a candidate for surgery three and a half years ago but was removed from the list when doctors couldn't find where the seizures were originating in her brain.After trips to specialists across the country, doctors said Liza would have to find other ways to control her epilepsy.Finding a cure would become a dream postponed until early one morning while Liza was hospitalized again last December; Allison, who was dozing in Liza's room, was awakened by a tap on the shoulder.

Dr. Pramote Laoprasert, who happened to be the on-call doctor when Liza was admitted, said he knew what was wrong with her.He could fix her.The dark-haired, thin, humble neurologist from Thailand, who once took a hiatus to become a Buddhist monk but felt he was called to children such as Liza, is also known as the "map man."Dozens of children, including another child from Greeley, a 5-year-old boy, are on waiting lists with parents praying for the day he will lay hands on their children's brain scans.

From data procured from countless EEGs and brain monitoring sessions, Laoprasert searches for a seizure's focal point.Once he maps out the problem area, or areas in some cases, he teams with a surgeon in a two-part procedure to cut out the diseased brain.By the time the Sedlaceks met him, the special diets and medicines had failed Liza. Her grand mal seizures, one of the most difficult type, were lasting several hours. Her recovery from them was slower, and even she knew something was wrong when she would try to talk but nothing would come out.Roger recalls the look of fear in Liza's large, almond-shaped eyes.

Much data would confirm Laoprasert's suspicions in Liza's case. However, there was a gray area.Tests revealed signs of activity on the left, suggesting more than one focal point. With that possibility, Laoprasert couldn't guarantee the surgery would stop her seizures completely. But he was certain he could reduce them.The risks were grave either way. "If you don't control the seizures, you can predict the outcome.

She can die," Laoprasert said.He told the Sedlaceks he wouldn't decide for them. They had to consider if surgery was still worth the risk.They decided it was."I hope she doesn't hate me for this," Allison said.A dedicated motherAllison sees the world through the same almond-shaped eyes as Liza.Since Liza, the youngest of three Sedlacek children, had her first seizure as an infant, Allison has been her greatest advocate.She will second-guess doctors who insist on medications that give Liza undesirable side effects. And she is admittedly bossy when, on the umpteenth trip to the area emergency department, she knows how long of an intravenous drip is necessary before staff can even begin to decipher the small child's complicated history.

Liza has been on every floor of Children's Hospital, and Allison is on a first name basis with many of the employees."You know the drill," a nurse, Nancy Weston, said to her during preparation for the latest-round of monitoring.Caring for Liza became a full-time job for Allison. Liza's health was so fragile she stayed home when she had a cold.

The toll on the family was evident -- Ellery taught herself to read at 4; Mason, who was 5, acted out for attention; Roger dreaded coming home from work.Now there were talks again for a cure.But Allison could not bulldoze her way through this one. Her aggressive tendencies were met by a calm, soft-spoken Laoprasert, who would continually repeat: "Her case is not straightforward. You need to be patient."Patience would be a lesson to learn by the woman who was out to break all the rules."Allison is the salesperson-aggressive type.

She sold Mary Kay, and she was going to get that pink Cadillac," her sister, Butler, said.But Allison's priorities changed since Liza showed her a whole new world. She suddenly had to deal with fighting insurance for in-home schooling and learning how to access services she didn't know existed for children with special needs.After fumbling through by herself, Allison's new passion is to create a road map for parents who happen into this world.She now works with the Greeley-Evans School District 6 to teach seizure first aid.

She also started an epilepsy support group in Greeley. Allison recalls a recent 7 a.m. phone call from a mother in the group."How privileged I felt that she thought of me," Allison said.Butler admires her sister's newfound humility. "To see that type of personality change has really been a blessing," she said.Before surgery At 8 a.m. on a Wednesday in the surgery waiting room at Children's, Liza is again surrounded by people who love her.

Her aunt, Butler, grandparents, Mary Lou and Leo Weaver, their pastor, Larry Van Spriel, Roger and Allison try, unsuccessfully, to appear calm, making small talk. Liza is the only one who seems to be without distress.She plays in a dollhouse an hour before the first surgery, during which a portion of her skull will be removed and her brain attached with electrodes.Her family hovers nearby as she picks up a toy phone and speaks into it, "Hello? Hello?"Then, as if she receives a message from the other end, she says out loud, "Don't worry."

Woman suffering from seizures is on trial for killing student in car accident

Bobbie Hills wiped her eyes with a tissue Friday as her mother told a judge about the seizures her daughter suffers."She just stops and stares," Arlene Hawks testified. "I shake her and keep calling her name."

Orange Circuit Judge Thomas Turner decided Friday that those seizures are not going to stop Hills, 44, from standing trial for the death of a 14-year-old Olympia High School student. Turner ruled that Hills is competent to face a jury for vehicular homicide, manslaughter and driving with a suspended drivers license.

Authorities said Hills, a former school custodian, suffered a seizure Jan. 5, 2005, while driving a Chevrolet Suburban on south Hiawassee Road near Cantrell Court.The sport utility vehicle slammed into Gaston Roy Johnson Jr. just after the Olympia High freshman stepped off a school bus near his southwest Orlando home.

The vehicle stopped by crashing through a concrete-block wall.Roy was killed instantly, authorities said.At the time of the crash, Hills' license had been suspended because of a medical condition. She lost her license after a 2003 crash in which she had a seizure and drove into woods off John Young Parkway at 55 mph.Hills' attorney, James Sweeting III, said her seizures will affect her defense.

The seizures can come on without warning and cause her to be catatonic.In preparation for Friday's hearing, three court-appointed doctors evaluated Hills and issued reports to the judge. Two agreed that she is competent to stand trial, and the third found her not competent.Assistant State Attorney Pamela Davis said if Hills suffers a seizure during trial, the court can take a break until she feels better. Davis offered to arrange for a doctor to stand by if needed.The judge agreed with her suggestion.No trial date has been set.

New technology to predict seizures!

A new device may be able to predict epileptic seizures before they become debilitating, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology report.

The device uses an existing epilepsy treatment known as a vagus nerve stimulator (VNS), which is used in epileptic patients who do not respond to anticonvulsant medications. The VNS works by implanting a defibrillator under the patient's collar bone to stimulate the left vagus nerve about every five minutes, which has been shown to help reduce the frequency and severity of seizures.
The new technology combines the VNS with a detector that measures brain activity to predict when a seizure is about to occur. When the device senses an upcoming seizure, it activates the VNS in hopes of halting the seizure before it starts.

The device was designed so it could be programmed to measure each individual's brain activity patterns to determine what the signals of an impending seizure look like for each patient.
"It's quite tricky to try to detect very early signs of seizures because there are abnormal electrical signals that don't evolve into seizures," John Guttag, MIT's Dugald C. Jackson Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, said in a prepared statement. "If we can learn what the right profile is for an individual, we can build a seizure onset detector that works really well for that person."

The new device was described in the August issue of Epilepsy & Behavior.

More information

The Epilepsy Foundation has more facts about epilepsy.

One of several children intoxicated by Mercury in day care has seizures!

Seven weeks after the mercury-contaminated Kiddie Kollege day-care center closed, a 5-year-old Franklin Township girl still has seizures, unexplained rashes, mysterious illnesses and peeling skin on her fingers and toes, which her attorney says are linked to inhaling the toxic metal.

The girl is among at least a dozen Kiddie Kollege children who still have elevated levels of mercury in their bodies, according to results of a second round of medical tests that were released in recent days to parents.

Several parents and their attorneys said the new tests are alarming because experts had expected the levels of mercury in the bodies of children who spent time in the former Gloucester County thermometer factory would drop over time.

"When the Health Department contacted me this time, they actually acted a little concerned," said Tina Toy, whose 2-year-old daughter, Savannah, attended Kiddie Kollege for more than a year. Toy said the state worker "had a heavy heart" in his conversation with her.

Kiddie Kollege shut July 28 after state Department of Environmental Protection workers discovered it had been operating in the bankrupt thermometer factory - one of New Jersey's known toxic sites - for two years.

The state attorney general has launched a criminal probe into how the day-care center was allowed to open and other state officials are conducting a widening probe into whether more day-care centers are imperiled by the state's 17,000 known contaminated sites.

Last month, the state Department of Health and Senior Services tested 60 Kiddie Kollege students for mercury exposure and reported that 20 had elevated but acceptable levels of mercury. State health officials said the mercury levels should drop as the children stay away from mercury exposure.

The children were tested again this month. The state Department of Health and Senior Services would not disclose the results to The Inquirer.

Parents said the second round of tests were not encouraging. More than half the children had levels above the normal range, according to interviews with parents and their attorneys.

"What we're seeing is what we suspected before the test came back - the mercury is not leaving their systems quickly enough and they're the cases where you see the symptoms persisting," said Christopher Manganello, a Pitman lawyer who represents the 5-year-old girl with seizures and 17 other Kiddie Kollege children.

The girl's mercury level dropped slightly, he said. Still, the mercury level in that girl and in nine other children he represents remain above normal.

Bridgeton lawyer Kevin McCann said he represents two other children whose mercury levels exceed normal, including Dillon Widdifield, 5, who has the highest mercury level of any of the Kiddie Kollege children.

"They are very distraught," he said of Dillon's parents.

The children who still have elevated levels will be retested again in about a month. Their homes also will be tested, to see whether mercury may have been brought home in their bookbags, sleeping bags or other articles.

The parents and their attorneys have asked state and federal health officials to expand the testing to include children who weren't attending Kiddie Kollege at the time it was closed. They also have asked that testing for all the children continue for decades or more.

"These kids need testing and the employees need testing for the rest of their lives. It's just the right thing to do," said Manganello.

Tom Slater, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Senior Services, confirmed that parents have been told the results for their own children. He said said he didn't know why the state wouldn't publicly release the total result of the second tests.

Sugar cane liquor laced with Methanol could cause seizures due to brain damage

The number of people dying from drinking methanol-laced liquor stabilized Tuesday after health officials administered a drug to neutralize the toxin in patients' blood. But scores could suffer permanent blindness and brain damage. At least 36 people died after drinking the bootleg sugarcane liquor, and 658 others were hospitalized during the past week in one of the worst health crises in the country in years, said Dr. Humberto Ramirez, assistant director of the hospital in Leon City, 45 miles west of Managua, where most of the cases have occurred.

It is believed that at least a dozen deaths have not been registered yet. On Tuesday, only one death was reported after the Pan American Health Organization donated $500,000 worth of Antizol, used to neutralize methanol in victims' blood. Just nine new cases were reported, indicating the epidemic is slowing down, Ramirez said. Gilberto Moreno, the head of disease control at the Leon hospital, said 424 people have been sent home, but added that most would suffer lifelong effects, including blindness and seizures from damage done to their central nervous systems. About 70 others remain hospitalized there.

"All of them have lost a large amount of neurons," Moreno said. "It's sad. None of these patients will go back to being the same people as they were." The U.S. military flew 25 health experts, medicine and equipment to Nicaragua on Sunday to help treat the victims, who suffered from headaches, seizures, dizziness and vomiting. Police have arrested six people who allegedly helped distribute the illegal liquor tainted with methanol, a toxic industrial alcohol used in antifreeze.

Bootleggers sometimes add methanol to their batches of liquor to make them stronger. Officials also seized 17,200 gallons of unauthorized sugarcane liquor, known as "aguardiente," said Mario Perez Cassar, the head of civil defense. Last week, the federal government declared a national emergency and transferred staff from the capital to hospitals in Leon. Authorities also banned the distribution and sale of distilled alcohol. Bottled liquor that has been sealed with a government health inspection sticker is still allowed.

Lack of special supplies is responsible for severe seizures

A special formula that helps keep severe epileptic seizures at bay for a little Saskatoon girl - is in very short supply.

Michelle Linklater's daughter suffers from a severe form of epilepsy that has proven to be drug resistant and is being treated through diet with a special high fat formula called KetoCal.

Linklater found out last Friday that there is a shortage of the product through the Canadian supplier. Due to Health Canada regulations the formula from a U-S supplier, with labels that are not in French and English, can neither be shipped across the border by the American supplier nor can it be mailed to an American address and brought across the border.

Linklater only has enough food to feed her daughter one more time - lunch time today

Could surgery be the cure to seizures?

It is back to school now for 14-year old Vijay Hanumanthappa Patil from Jamkhandi in Bagalkot district, who had dropped out of school as he was suffering from medically uncontrolled epilepsy (fits) from his birth.

After doctors from the Narayana Institute of Neurosciences at Narayana Hrudayalaya operated upon him last week, the boy has recovered and will soon be able to go to school.

Nagesh (31) from Whitefield in Bangalore, who was operated upon for the same problem last month, is back to work. Both these patients were treated free of cost at the hospital.

The Narayana Institute of Neurosciences at Narayana Hrudayalaya recently established a modern epilepsy centre with donations from the Rotary Club of Bangalore and Dr. Syed Ahmed Health Trust.

Dr. Thimmappa Hegde and Dr. Rajesh B. Iyer from the Institute, who performed the operations, told presspersons here on Monday that these two patients complained of frequent intractable seizures.

Diagnosis

Asserting that surgery could cure intractable seizures in about 60 per cent of the patients, Dr. Hegde said successful surgery depended on the identification and removal of the epileptogenic zone (the abnormal region of the brain), which was responsible for the seizure.

"This requires a pre-surgical evaluation involving a video electro encephalogram (EEG) monitoring to record the actual seizures, MRI scan of the brain with special studies on the region of interest and neuropsychological analysis.

"Of the 50 persons we evaluated since December, these two had been identified for surgery," he said.

Pointing out that there were no risk factors involved in the operation, Dr. Rajesh said if the surgery was not performed properly, there could be problems relating to speech and vision.

Could MIT prevent seizures?

Researchers at MIT are developing a device that could detect and prevent epileptic seizures before they become debilitating.

Epilepsy affects about 50 million people worldwide, and while anticonvulsant medications can reduce the frequency of seizures, the drugs are ineffective for as many as one in three patients.
The new treatment builds on an existing treatment for epilepsy, the Cyberonics Inc. vagus nerve stimulator (VNS), which is often used in patients who do not respond to drugs. A defibrillator typically implanted under the patient's collar bone stimulates the left vagus nerve about every five minutes, which has been shown to help reduce the frequency and severity of seizures in many patients.

The MIT researchers and colleagues at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) seek to improve the treatment by combining it with a detector that measures brain activity to predict when a seizure is about to occur. The new device would sense the oncoming seizure and then activate the VNS, in principle halting the seizure before it becomes manifest.

"Our contribution is the software that decides when to turn the stimulator on," said John Guttag, MIT's Dugald C. Jackson Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Guttag developed the system along with Ali Shoeb, a graduate student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

"Our colleague Dr. Steven Schachter, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and epileptologist at BIDMC, suggested hooking our detector up to the VNS," he said. MIT and BIDMC researchers plan to test the new device in epilepsy patients this fall. If it seems effective, more comprehensive trials will be launched.

A look at brain patterns

The detector works by measuring brain activity with electrodes placed on the patient's scalp. In its current form, the patient wears something resembling a bathing cap, in which electrodes are embedded. In order to adapt the detector to work with the VNS, researchers connected wires from the cap to a laptop computer or microprocessor that activates the implanted defibrillator.

Guttag said he believes the technology could be refined so the electrodes could be worn inside of a headband or baseball cap, making the device less obvious to observers.

Each epilepsy patient has different brain activity patterns, so the detector is programmed to measure an individual's patterns to determine what the precursors to a seizure look like for each patient.

"It's quite tricky to try to detect very early signs of seizures because there are abnormal electrical signals that don't evolve into seizures," Guttag said. "If we can learn what the right profile is for an individual, we can build a seizure onset detector that works really well for that person."

Ideally, when the device senses an impending seizure, it sends a magnetic signal to the implanted stimulator, which in turn activates the left vagus nerve. The vagus nerve sends electrical signals up to the brain as well as down toward the viscera, controlling heart rate, gastrointestinal peristalsis, sweating and keeping the larynx open for breathing. The mechanism by which VNS prevents seizures is not known, but the technique has been FDA approved to treat epilepsy for about 10 years.

About 32,000 epilepsy patients already have VNS implants, according to Guttag. Some of them are able to use a handheld magnet to activate the VNS on demand, but many cannot. If the new detection device is successful, it would allow many more patients to use the VNS on demand.
The device could also be adapted to provide warnings for patients who don't need or want VNS implants. Once the device alerts the patient that a seizure is imminent, that person could take steps to minimize injury, such as sitting down or moving away from potentially dangerous objects, such as a hot stove.

"If you could just give someone a little bit of warning they're about to have a seizure, it could be hugely valuable," Guttag said. "The seizures themselves aren't usually damaging to the brain in the long term. It's mostly about the collateral damage."

Although the seizure detector could have a huge impact on epilepsy patients, there are plenty of other potential applications for technology that analyzes electrical activity in individual brains, Guttag said. Depression, schizophrenia and attention deficit disorder are just a few of the conditions that could be studied.

"My hope is that we'll be able to use some of the technology to get insight into a lot of those mysterious neurological conditions," he said.

New technology to treat seizures?!

The Australian research that led to the ground-breaking bionic ear is now set to revolutionise the treatment of epilepsy.

Researchers at Melbourne's St Vincent's Hospital are working with the Bionic Ear Institute to investigate new treatments by identifying epilepsy signature wave patterns - or electrical signals - that could prevent seizures by interrupting the patterns.

Professor Mark Cook, the hospital's director of clinical neuroscience and neurological research, said the hope was to build a device capable of detecting and treating seizures by either electrical stimulation or the delivery of drugs to the affected part of the brain.

"Epilepsy is a common and serious illness and a terribly disabling disease - the consequences, socially and economically, are awful, and epilepsy is the most-common serious neurological disease after strokes.

"We hope that by the end of the three-year project we will have the skills necessary to put a device together, but there are lots of technological and commercial aspects to that."

While the research held great promise for future treatments of epilepsy, Professor Cook warned the disease would probably never be fully beaten.

"Unfortunately, epilepsy is a symptom of many different diseases and often the underlying cause can't be treated.

"What this is about is controlling and treating seizures rather than curing the cause of them."

While development of a device to control seizures is still some years away, the research has been welcomed by Graeme Crawford, whose son Sam has battled epilepsy all his life.

Mr Crawford said the medical research team had worked closely with Sam, 22, who contracted viral encephalitis as a one-year-old and who now also suffers from cerebral palsy and cannot easily communicate.

"We are very positive about this and have been since the research project was first mooted," Mr Crawford said.

"We've kept daily records since Sam first had seizures, the types of seizures and when they occur - the St Vincent's team has a tremendous database on Sam to work from.

"Once they get past the technology part and see how it affects human beings, if we can play a small part in not only helping Sam but also many other people who have intractable epilepsy, we would be more than happy."

The Bionic Ear Institute also has been supported by the Victorian government, which has provided $8 million in funding to the research program.

Young quarterback and his father saved a man who suffered from seizures

As the keeper of Texas’ 21-game winning streak and the successor to Vince Young, Colt McCoy inherited a daunting task when he took over as Longhorns quarterback this season.

Patina and Ken Herrington at the lake behind their house where Ken had a seizure Memorial Day.
With No. 2 Texas playing top-ranked Ohio State in college football’s first No. 1 versus No. 2 regular-season showdown since 1996, McCoy will find the eyes of Texas and the country focused squarely on him.

But when McCoy, a redshirt freshman, steps onto the field of the sold-out Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, he will not have to be reminded that he is capable of thriving under pressure.
On Memorial Day, McCoy and his father, Brad, helped save the life of Ken Herrington, who had a seizure on the dock of his lakefront home. McCoy and his father heard the cries for help from Herrington’s wife and swam 300 yards to help rescue him.

“It’s a true hero story,” Patina Herrington, Ken’s wife, said in a telephone interview.

The episode took place just after nightfall at the Herringtons’ home in Graham, Tex., an oil town of 8,700 in the western part of the state.

Alerted by a neighborhood dog, Patina Herrington found her husband thrashing about wildly on the wooden planks of the couple’s dock, inching dangerously close to slipping into Timber Ridge Lake’s murky water.

Ken Herrington, 60, had experienced numerous seizures after having three brain surgeries in 1995, but never in a setting like this. He also has aphasia, a speech disorder that limits his ability to communicate and comprehend.

“I couldn’t leave him,” said Patina Herrington, 50. “It was a life-or-death moment.”

Kneeling next to her husband, she screamed frantically into the darkness for assistance, yelling: “Help. Help. Help. This is Patina Herrington. Ken is having seizures.”

Across the small lake, the McCoys, who had just finished a daylong fishing contest, heard her call for help and plunged into the water. Using a flashlight to guide their way, they swam 300 yards to the dock. By then a neighbor had called 911.

Colt McCoy, who lost his shoes during the swim, put on his father’s wet sneakers and sprinted more than 500 yards up a hill to a nearby road to meet the paramedics. He and his father then helped carry Herrington to an ambulance.

After at least 12 seizures that night and a brief stay in a hospital in the Fort Worth area, Herrington is recovering and is appreciative of his rescuers.

Herrington, a 1967 Texas graduate, has even elevated McCoy over Young on his list of favorite Longhorn quarterbacks.

“He’s just a fantastic person,” Herrington said in a telephone interview. “It’s incredible, this person. He did everything.”

Young did everything a quarterback could do in leading the Longhorns to the national title last season. He was named most valuable player in the Rose Bowl and scored the winning touchdown with 19 seconds remaining.

McCoy made his first start last Saturday after beating out the freshman Jevan Snead in summer camp. He threw for 178 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 56-7 rout of North Texas.

Although the stakes will be higher and the opponent more stout Saturday, McCoy appears capable of doing his part.

“They did not have to scale back their offense because Vince Young was not here,” North Texas Coach Darrell Dickey said. “McCoy looks like he can do the things that Texas needs him to do in their offense.”

In Austin on Friday, the trappings of the big game were popping up all over town. A few fans were already tailgating more than 32 hours before the kickoff, and tickets were fetching more than $500.
The cyclist Lance Armstrong and the actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Matthew McConaughey even watched Texas practice Thursday.

Displaying rare patience for a young quarterback and a lively arm capable of generating big plays, McCoy, 20, seems to be soaking up the atmosphere.

“The secret is to just be confident,” he said. “Go out there and have fun. Having fun is the secret.”
But McCoy refused to play up his heroics off the field.

“I wouldn’t consider myself a hero,” he said. “I saw someone need help, and I did what I hope anyone else would do.”

But McCoy is a hero to the Herringtons, who will attend Saturday’s game and wrestle with their emotions.

“It’s hard not to cry,” Patina said. “What happened that night was so scary. Colt means so much. He’ll always be special to us.”

$90,000 for combination of taser and seizures!

County leaders paid a $90,000 settlement Thursday and agreed to tougher guidelines for deputies using Tasers after officers repeatedly used the devices to shock a man suffering from seizures.
Christopher Nielsen of Longmont collapsed and suffered seizures both before and after police zapped him with Tasers five times after a car crash in November.

The settlement comes five weeks after Ryan Michael Wilson died when Lafayette police shot him with a Taser to stop him from fleeing a marijuana bust Aug. 4.

Sheriff Joe Pelle did not return several calls for comment Thursday and Friday.

The agreement prohibits Nielsen from suing the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office. However, Nielsen is considering a lawsuit against Longmont police, who also fired a Taser at him during the incident, according to Nielsen’s attorney, Andrew Gibbs.

Nielsen, 37, apparently suffered a seizure while driving and crashed his Ford Expedition at 9119 Nelson Road on the morning of Nov. 27, Deputy John Appleman wrote in a report.

Officers found Nielsen standing outside his car. He did not obey police instructions, Appleman wrote, and police did not realize he had suffered a seizure.

“With each command, the individual appeared to pace more frequently and was becoming more rigid in his stature and apparently agitated,” Appleman wrote.

After warning Nielsen several times, Appleman shot the suspect with a Taser, a device that delivers an electric shock to immobilize its target, according to reports.

Nielsen stayed on his feet and attempted to rip the Taser electrode from his left hand, the report said.

Longmont Officer Kyle Miller, who also responded to the crash, reacted by shooting Nielsen with a second Taser, police said.

Nielsen continued to act strangely, and Appleman hit Nielsen with two more jolts from the Taser before Nielsen fell down, police said.

Lying on the ground, Nielsen reached for his pockets, so Appleman zapped him a fourth time, according to the report. Nielsen asked him to stop shocking him, police said.

Police took Neilsen into custody. Paramedics examined him, suspected he was suffering seizures and took him to Longmont United Hospital for treatment.

Earlier in the morning, Nielsen had visited LUH for medical advice about seizures, but no neurologist was on duty, officers later discovered.

Appleman ticketed Nielsen on suspicion of driving with a suspended license — a penalty for several unpaid traffic tickets — and obstructing a police officer. A prosecutor threw out the charges a few days later, court records showed.

As part of the settlement with Neilsen, the sheriff’s office revised its policy for Taser use on Aug. 2.
The new policy prohibits deputies in most cases from zapping suspects who engage in “passive resistance,” such as going limp, stiffening their body or refusing to move.

A deputy who uses a Taser on someone being passively resistant must be able to explain why the Taser was a better way to restrain the suspect than verbal commands or light physical force, the policy says.

In Longmont, an officer may not use a Taser on a suspect more than three times during an incident, or use a Taser on suspects who are very young, elderly, pregnant, sick or injured, Sgt. Tim Lewis said.

The weapons can cause health problems and death, but only in rare cases, he stressed. More often, they prevent officers from wrestling with suspects who resist.

“It’s still a valuable tool to us,” he said. “It reduces injuries to suspects and officers.”

New diet may treat seizures in children

At the age of six, Isabella O'Brien's severe epilepsy prevented her from ever muttering more than a few words.

But just four days after starting an age-old, high fat diet, her seizures vanished and she sang her parents a Spice Girls song from start to finish.

The 80-year-old Ketogenic Diet is changing the lives of epileptic children who have constant seizures jerking their bodies.

Melbourne's Austin Hospital has established the Ketogenic Diet Program to help determine which epileptic patients respond to the diet and which suffer its possible side-effects.

The program will focus on children and may eventually be expanded to adults.

Paediatric epileptologist Professor Ingrid Scheffer said the diet was established in the 1920s but fell out of favour in the 1970s with the development of anti-epileptic medications.

But about 20 per cent of epileptics - usually the most severe sufferers - do not respond to medication, and are prime candidates for the diet.

Prof Scheffer said the diet had been used at the Royal Children's Hospital for several years and results from those patients had so far shown there were no side-effects.

The diet is medically controlled and is high in fat, low in carbohydrate and has moderate protein levels.

A typical day could include an egg-nogg drink and omelette with ham and cheese, a chicken and vegetable stir-fry and a snack of strawberries.

Lollies, chips and other kids' snacks are strictly out.

Prof Scheffer said many patients were not given the option of the diet until they had tried five or six different drugs without success.

She said she believed the diet should be introduced after two drug attempts were deemed unsuccessful.

Prof Scheffer said 50 per cent of children on the diet had a 50 per cent reduction in seizures.
But she said in 30 per cent of children, their seizures reduced by 90 per cent.

"Being seizure-free changes a child's life, and their family's," she said.

Now 11, Isabella, who has myoclonic-astatic epilepsy, was on the diet for two years and three years later is still 95 per cent improved.

Her mother, Gabrielle O'Brien, said she was now virtually free of the seizures that forced her to hear a protective helmet, although her early problems meant she was developmentally delayed.
"She could lead a normal life. She went back to school and functioned beautifully," she said.
"If parents know about it earlier, then they can prevent developmental delays and hopefully get on top of the epilepsy sooner."

Vagus Nerve Stimulation has been approved to treat seizures

VNS (Vagus Nerve Stimulation) therapy has been approved by the FDA as an adjunctive treatment for medically refractory partial onset seizures. Now scientists from the MIT and clinicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center are trying to "upgrade" a VNS device from Cyberonics Inc. to detect and prevent epileptic seizures before they manifest themselves.

The new device would sense the oncoming seizure and then activate the VNS, in principle halting the seizure before it becomes manifest...

The detector works by measuring brain activity with electrodes placed on the patient's scalp. In its current form, the patient wears something resembling a bathing cap, in which electrodes are embedded. In order to adapt the detector to work with the VNS, researchers connected wires from the cap to a laptop computer or microprocessor that activates the implanted defibrillator.
Guttag said he believes the technology could be refined so the electrodes could be worn inside of a headband or baseball cap, making the device less obvious to observers.

Each epilepsy patient has different brain activity patterns, so the detector is programmed to measure an individual's patterns to determine what the precursors to a seizure look like for each patient.

"It's quite tricky to try to detect very early signs of seizures because there are abnormal electrical signals that don't evolve into seizures," Guttag said. "If we can learn what the right profile is for an individual, we can build a seizure onset detector that works really well for that person."

Ideally, when the device senses an impending seizure, it sends a magnetic signal to the implanted stimulator, which in turn activates the left vagus nerve. The vagus nerve sends electrical signals up to the brain as well as down toward the viscera, controlling heart rate, gastrointestinal peristalsis, sweating and keeping the larynx open for breathing. The mechanism by which VNS prevents seizures is not known, but the technique has been FDA approved to treat epilepsy for about 10 years.

About 20,000 epilepsy patients already have VNS implants, according to Guttag. Some of them are able to use a handheld magnet to activate the VNS on demand, but many cannot. If the new detection device is successful, it would allow many more patients to use the VNS on demand.
The device could also be adapted to provide warnings for patients who don't need or want VNS implants. Once the device alerts the patient that a seizure is imminent, that person could take steps to minimize injury, such as sitting down or moving away from potentially dangerous objects, such as a hot stove.

"If you could just give someone a little bit of warning they're about to have a seizure, it could be hugely valuable," Guttag said. "The seizures themselves aren't usually damaging to the brain in the long term. It's mostly about the collateral damage."

Although the seizure detector could have a huge impact on epilepsy patients, there are plenty of other potential applications for technology that analyzes electrical activity in individual brains, Guttag said. Depression, schizophrenia and attention deficit disorder are just a few of the conditions that could be studied.

Epilepsy more common in patients with low-grade glioma

Epileptic seizures in patients with grade II supratentorial gliomas are more common than previously reported and are relatively refractory to treatment, according to a retrospective case-note review that provides the largest case series on the course and prognosis of epilepsy in these patients.

The review also found that antiepileptic agent levetiracetam is the most frequently used add-on drug in patients with refractory epilepsy, and it shows an efficacy that is comparable to that in non-tumour cohorts, according to presenter Rimona S. Weil, MD, clinical research fellow, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.Dr. Weil presented the findings here on September 3rd at the 10th Congress of the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS).

Although low-grade glioma has a low incidence, at 2 per 100,000 per year, seizures that are often refractory to medication occur in 70% to 80% of these patients. This study was therefore conducted to determine the prognosis for patients with low-grade glioma and epileptic seizures, and which of the newer antiepileptic agents are most effective and best tolerated?" she detailed.

Study subjects were adults with World Health Organisation grade II supratentorial glioma, as diagnosed according to histology and radiological appearance. Eighty-one patients were included (median age, 36 years; male, 63%), and they had a median follow-up of 4 years (range, 0.8-20.0).Tumour locations were frontal (41%), temporal (22%), frontotemporal (11%), frontoparietal (7%), parietal (6%), temporoparietal (4%), occipital (2%), and other locations (6%). Examination of the histological subtypes indicated: astrocytoma (46%), oligodendroglioma (27%) and oligoastrocytoma (7%); 14% were not biopsied, and 6% were biopsied after transformation.Of patients with low-grade glioma, 27% were seizure free over the previous year.

Age at diagnosis, gender, early resection, tumour location and histological subtype were not associated with an increased probability of seizure freedom.The seizure types seen in this last year of follow-up varied across simple partial seizures (SPS; 44%), complex partial seizures (CPS; 2%), generalised tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS; 14%), SPS + GTCS (11%), SPS + CPS (1%) and unspecified seizures (1%).

The first-line agents were carbamazepine, phenytoin and sodium valproate; 40% of patients also received the newer antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), 31% of which required more than 1 treatment.Changes in seizure control with the various newer AEDs could not be determined due to limited patient numbers, but the researchers did note that levetiracetam was the most frequently used of these agents in patients with treatment failure. In addition, this agent was associated with treatment response (seizure reduction greater than 50%) in 68% of episodes, with 14% of patients remaining seizure free.

The adverse effects profiles of these newer AEDs were generally acceptable in 45% to 70% of patient episodes, according to Dr. Weil.For partial-onset epilepsy, a direct comparison between the relatively small population of 28 evaluable patients with low-grade glioma and the larger non-tumour populations in the literature showed that levetiracetam has similar efficacy rates for seizure reduction and seizure-free status.Dr Weil was the recipient of an unrestricted educational grant from UCB Pharma.

Treating pets with seizures

Marlo James didnt know what to do.

Her beloved basset hound, Star — a regular at the Martinez Animal Shelter until James took the beleaguered animal into her Danville home — was suffering violent seizures.

She would have them in clusters, like every hour to two hours, James said.

Marlo and her husband, Greg, tried everything to help ease the dogs epilepsy: repeated visits to the Bishop Ranch Veterinary Hospital, even late at night , and steadily increasing doses of drugs such as potassium bromide and phenobarbital.

After five months of treatment — not to mention thousands of dollars in medical bills — the Jameses were willing to try anything. So, they turned to acupuncture.

Low and behold, Stars condition improved and her seizures subsided.

The difference has been night and day, said Marlo, adding that her Shining Star looks forward to going to her weekly acupuncture appointments and has been much more animated in general.
Bishop Ranch Veterinary Hospital is one of the few hospitals in Northern California with specialists who practice acupuncture and homeopathetic medicine, one of a variety of unique programs the hospital offers.

Dr. Kirsten Williams, an Oaklandnative who specializes in the alternative treatment style, said acupuncture is based on the Chinese medicine approach that an animals energy can be out of balance and that needles applied to certain points helps counterbalance that.

In Stars case, we place some of needles on anti-seizure points on her head, on her spine and other spots on the body, she said. The idea is to reach the different bundles of nerves and stimulate the nervous system directly.

The basset hound goes weekly for acupuncture sessions of about 15 to 20 minutes, with the intention of coming out without pain.

If I would have known it would have worked and that we wouldnt have had to go through these five months of hell, we would have done it earlier, James said. Our goal is to completely wean her off the drugs.

Acupuncture can be used for ailments like arthritis, kidney and liver problems, relief for
cancer, digestive problems and allergies, Williams said.

Not every dog responds as well as Star, she said. Some dogs respond like she does, but others take a lot longer, sometimes several months before showing improvement.

Holistic medicine and conventional medicine complement each other very well, said Williams, who has worked at the San Ramon veterinary for 13 years. She also works at Creature Comfort Holistic Veterinary Center in Oakland.

In a way, its the best of both worlds, she said.

Bishop Ranch Veterinary Center employs 13 veterinarians with different interests and field of animal expertise at its 14,000-square-foot facility. The center also has an emergency and urgent care facility on site and 24-hour patient care, which is unusual for a general practice facility.

Drug suspect ends up having seizures

Authorities say a drug suspect who allegedly ate cocaine when approached by police remained hospitalized in critical condition on Monday. He's identified as 21-year-old Mario Pettis.
The incident happened Saturday.

Police were responding to a report of a disturbance at 320 North 40th Street.

They arrived to find a vehicle pulling out of a driveway and people who were gathered nearby told officers that the front seat passenger was eating cocaine.

Both the driver and front seat passenger were ordered out of the car.

Police noticed Pettis chewing a white powdery substance and an officer tried to prevent him from swallowing it.

Pettis was taken to the hospital and began having seizures in the rescue squad. He was hospitalized in critical condition.

Syncope or seizures? What is the difference?

Seizures and fainting are most often attributed to stress and other psychological factors, but there is a lot more to it than it's thought of.

What is a seizure?

A seizure is a sudden, involuntary change in behaviour, muscle control, consciousness or sensation often accompanied by an abnormal electrical discharge in the brain. The symptoms can range from sudden or violent shaking and total loss of consciousness, altered vision and difficulty in speaking.

What is Syncope?.

It is the medical term for fainting, meaning a sudden loss of consciousness and physical collapse due to lack of blood and oxygen to the brain. Syncope can occur without warning as an isolated event or frequently over time. Its symptoms often mimic an epileptic seizure such as muscle twitching, shaking, convulsions and physical collapse.

Is seizure same as syncope?

No, but it can be very difficult to distinguish between and epileptic seizure and syncope. Fainting may result in movements or behaviour that mimic seizures. The difference is that epileptic seizure produces a brief disturbances in the normal electrical function of the brain, while syncope is caused by a reduction in the blood flow carrying oxygen to the brain. A seizure can sometimes accompany a syncope episode and vice versa.

What causes syncope?.

It usually occurs when the brain does not receive enough blood and oxygen. Some causes of syncope are relatively harmless, but others can be life- threatening.

Cardio vascular causes of syncope can be among the most serious. One of the most common heart- related causes is an abnormal heart rhythm. In these cases the heart beats either too slowly, rapidly or irregularly to pump enough blood to key parts of the body, including the brain.

Other causes of syncope include some neurological disorders , physiological conditions and obvious situations such as standing up too fast or being in a hot room. These factors contribute to making the cause of syncope difficult to diagnose.

How can it be treated

If syncope is caused by an abnormal heart rhythm, therapy options may include medication, an implanatable device such as a pace- maker or a corrective surgery.

With appropriate treatment, a person suffering from cardiovascular syncope can often resume normal activities without fear of having a relapse.

What causes seizures?

Although the cause cannot always be identified, there are many different conditions that can cause seizures. These can be grouped into four categories, neurological, psychological, cardiovascular and other causes.

Neurological conditions stemming from infections, brain injury, tumours, strokes etc, which often lead to changes in brain electrical activity.

Cardiovascular conditions due to heart rhythm abnormalities, blocked vessels, blood pressure irregularities etc, psychological condition including panic attacks, hysteria, emotional distress etc.
How can it be treated?

Correctly evaluating the cause of recurrent seizures requires the collaboration of several medical specialists . This may include a neurologist if a neurological case is suspected, if a cardiovascular case is doubted a cardiologist may be required and if a psychological factor is suspected, psychiatric evaluation may be required.