New technology could both predict and stop seizures

Approximately one-fourth of people with epilepsy can't be treated. Their seizures continue disrupting their lives, while others with the disorder respond to either medication or surgery. Now, scientists are exploring new ways to predict seizures and stop them before they start.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia are studying how to predict when a seizure will happen in the hopes that treatments, like implanted brain stimulators, will stop the seizure from happening.

Brian Litt, M.D., says the current surgical treatments for difficult-to-control epilepsy may one day be outdated. Currently, the focal area of seizure activity is mapped and then removed in certain patients who do not respond to medication. While this is effective in many cases, Dr. Litt believes there may be a better way.

Dr. Litt and his colleagues developed new ways to program devices to recognize the beginning of a seizure. These devices, like the Neuropace Responsive Neuro Stimulator, would essentially zap the brain back into a normal mode of behavior. The secret is to give the treatment in enough time to stop the cascade of events that lead to a full-blown seizure. The results of a small trial of 50 patients revealed this technique reduced seizures by half in 43 percent of the patients.

Dr. Litt told Ivanhoe more research needs to be done before a new treatment would be available to the public. However, the discovery that some types of seizures develop over minutes, even hours, before a seizure is apparent has led researchers in a new direction of epilepsy research, which could lead to more effective seizure control.