Delaying Epilepsy Drugs May Be OK for Some
Starting epilepsy drugs right away may not be necessary for people who have experienced a first seizure or who are in the early stages of epilepsy. Researchers found that immediate treatment with epilepsy drugs did not reduce the risk of repeat seizures over the long term in a large group of people followed for five years.
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Tip Sheet: Avoiding Epilepsy Drug Interactions
Unfortunately, many medicines for epilepsy can interact with common prescription and over-the-counter medicines. Epilepsy drugs can prevent some medicines from working normally, and other medicines can have the same effect on epilepsy drugs. Either situation can be dangerous.
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Epilepsy Surgery Brings Long-Term Results
Brain surgeryBrain surgery to treat epilepsy can provide relief from seizures for up to 30 years, a new study suggests. "Few studies have looked at the long-term prognosis for epilepsy surgery," says researcher William H. Theodore, MD, of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, in a news release. "We found that 50 percent of the patients were free of seizures 30 years after the surgery."
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Tip Sheet: Successful Epilepsy Treatment
What can you do to improve your epilepsy treatment? Plenty. WebMD asked epilepsy experts for their advice.
* Take an active role. You need to be more than a patient. Be an active participant in your health care. Learn about epilepsy and its treatments. Know the names and doses of your medicines. Ask your health care provider questions.
* Take your medicine as prescribed. Your medicine won't help if you don't take it. If you have trouble remembering, buy a pillbox with spaces for each dose. Use alarms on your watch, cell phone, or computer to remind you. Ask your doctor if you should take any precautions, such as taking your pills with or without food, or in the morning or at night.
* Don't run low on your medication. Get in the habit of requesting drug refills several days before you'll run out.
* Store your medicines safely. Keep all medicines safely away from young children and pets. Don't keep your medicines in direct sunlight or in humid places, such as bathrooms.
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Study Links Epilepsy and Schizophrenia Risk
There is a "strong association" between epilepsy and schizophrenia, says a Danish study of more than 2 million people. People with epilepsy had about 2.5 times the risk of schizophrenia as the general population, says the study, which is posted on BMJ Online First.
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New Emergency Seizure Treatment for Children
A better option for quick control of seizures in children is a drug that can be given by mouth rather than via the rectum. Researchers found emergency room treatment with the drug midazolam successfully stopped seizures within 10 minutes in twice as many children as the currently used rectal treatment. Rectally given Valium is the treatment of choice for children with uncontrolled seizures when intravenous drugs (IV) cannot be given.
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Study Probes Epilepsy Treatment for Kids
When kids with epilepsy don't respond to epilepsy medications, does another treatment called vagus nerve stimulation help? Researchers including Juliann Paolicchi, MD, are studying that question. Their findings were presented in Paris at the 26th International Epilepsy Congress.
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New Blood Test May Detect Epileptic Seizures
An epilepsy blood test measures the amount of the hormone prolactin in the blood. It helps determine whether a seizure was caused by epilepsy or another disorder. Researchers reviewed all of the published studies on the prolactin blood test and found it may be useful in certain situations in determining whether an epileptic seizure occurred in adults and older children with unexplained seizures.
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Avoiding 'Pokemon' Seizures From TV, Video Games
The Epilepsy Foundation has issued new guidelines to help avoid rare cases of seizures triggered by flickering lights from TV and video games. The guidelines are particularly important for people who are sensitive to light, but "the suggestions are valid for everybody," Giuseppe Erba, MD, tells WebMD. Erba is a professor of neurology and pediatrics at the University of Rochester. He helped write the guidelines, which include:
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Flexible Doses Help With Epilepsy Drug
"One size fits all" may not be the rule of thumb for doses of epilepsy drugs. A new study shows fewer side effects in epileptic adults taking flexible doses of the antiseizure drug Lyrica, compared to those taking a fixed daily dose of the drug.
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Epilepsy Treatments: Finding the Right Medication
Epilepsy treatment has come a long way in the last 15 years. Today, many new and effective anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) are on the market. Though there's no cure, the prognosis for most of the 2 million people with epilepsy in the U.S. is quite good. Up to 80% of people can control their condition with medicine.
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Diet May Inspire New Epilepsy Drugs
The "ketogenic diet" might be the springboard for a new type of epilepsy drug. The ketogenic diet strictly limits carbohydrates and may help control seizuresseizures in some people. That's nothing new. The ketogenic diet has been around since the 1920s (and shouldn't be tried without medical supervision).
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Dogs Respond to Non-Epileptic Seizures
Dogs may sense and respond to seizures -- but those caused by psychological reasons rather than epilepsy, according to new research. Although widely reported, researchers say cases of dogs predicting their owner’s epileptic seizures have not been scientifically confirmed.
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Epilepsy or Psychological Seizures?
A surprisingly large percentage of epilepsy patients who do not respond to drug treatment don't really have epilepsy at all. It often takes a decade or longer for these patients to get a correct diagnosis -- but new research finds there are simple clues that can make a correct diagnosis easier.
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