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Epilepsy
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Definition of Epilepsy
Epilepsy is any of various neurological disorders characterized by sudden recurring attacks of motor, sensory, or psychic malfunction with or without loss of consciousness or convulsive seizures.
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More Yoga for Americans
Americans in ever-increasing numbers—18 million, according to Yoga Journal—are flocking to a range of styles from more traditional hatha and Iyengar yoga to new variations like Bikram yoga, which is practiced at room temperatures ranging from 90 to 100 degrees, and "power" yoga, which blends the peaceful Eastern tradition with elements of aerobics. A recent number of studies lend support to the beneficial aspects of yoga:
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Helping Epilepsy Patients With Yoga
At 50, Joan is not the oldest person in her yoga class, but she's probably the most accomplished. Of course, you'd expect that of the instructor. A devout practitioner of yoga, her body is the best advertisement for the methodology: She is strong, flexible, and looks much younger than her years.
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Do Alternative Therapies Work for Epilepsy?
As you might guess, there's no easy answer to this question. As with other types of epilepsy treatment, individual needs and responses vary enormously. The range of alternative therapies is also enormous. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) lists five categories of therapies:
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Interview with Edward Bromfield, M.D. - Omega fatty acids and seizures
It has been estimated that nearly half of adult patients with epilepsy do not achieve seizure control with available drugs. Patients with poorly controlled epilepsy are often on multiple anticonvulsants, which can cause debilitating side effects such as drowsiness, blurred or double vision and imbalance. New research is exploring other possible therapies, such as omega fatty acids.
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Asian Herbs: An Interview with Dr. Steven C. Schachter
Dr. Steven Schachter, Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and Associate Director of Clinical Research at the HMS Division for Resarch and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies, recently received a research grant from Epilepsy Therapy Project to lead a study on East Asian herbs as a potential source of new antiseizure medications. The following is an interview with Dr. Schachter conducted by epilepsy.com editor Jenna Martin.
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Meditation & Epilepsy: The Silent Debate Wages On
Proponents of meditation tout its ability to reduce seizures in people with epilepsy, while those more skeptical contend that regular practice of meditation could in fact induce epileptic seizures. So, how much of this debate is based on real clinical data and how much on opinion? To answer this question, Epilepsy.com writer, Jenna Martin, interviewed Erik K. St. Louis, M.D., Assistant Professor of Neurology Co-Director, Iowa Comprehensive Epilepsy Program and co-author of the recently published article, “Meditation and epilepsy: A still hung jury” 1 and another forthcoming review on the subject2.
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Just What Are Treatment Goals for People Living with Epilepsy?
What are the personal goals of treatment for patients with epilepsy? Are physicians tuned in? Melanie Adams, PA and colleagues compared what physicians think their patients’ treatment goals are versus what they actually are. They presented their most recent research findings today at the American Epilepsy Society 59th Annual meeting in Washington, DC.
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Do first-time seizures need to be treated?
A first seizure is very frightening. Questions arise about the cause of the seizure, the chance of recurrence, dangers of another seizure, the need for a seizure medicine, and the possibility of lifelong medication. In the vast majority of cases, epilepsy does not result from a life-threatening disorder such as a brain tumor.
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Review of new articles: Epilepsy surgery outcomes
Lowe and colleagues (1) reported on long-term seizure control and quality-of-life outcomes after surgery. The special feature of this report is that the investigators included a homogeneous cohort of 50 patients with hippocampal sclerosis (verified by pathology, MRI), evaluated at least 2 years post-surgery. The long-term self-report assessment revealed seizure-freedom for 82% of patients for 1 year, 76% for 2 years, and 63% for approximately 5 years, based on the Engel Classification Grade 1 (2). Thus, although the prognosis for complete seizure control was excellent for people with this well-defined temporal lobe syndrome, a risk of recurrence remained even after 2 years of seizure freedom. Notably, the 10 patients who discontinued all medications had rare seizures or none. The higher-than-usual rates for seizure control compared to other reports are likely related to inclusion of the homogeneous population limited to hippocampal sclerosis.
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Will just removing the lesion stop my seizures?
If your seizure medicines are not working well and a CT scan or MRI shows that you have a tumor, an abnormal collection of blood vessels, or some other "lesion" in your brain that is a likely cause of your seizures, surgery may be a good option. The neurologist or epileptologist will refer you to a neurosurgeon, who will investigate further to plan the safest and most effective surgery for you. An important part of this planning is deciding how large an area to remove.
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The Placebo Debate
People are bombarded on television and in magazines by advertisements for new medicines. These advertisements are accompanied by pages of small print full of the results of clinical trials. The use of placebos in the clinical trials that help prove the effectiveness and safety of medications has become a hot issue in the world of epilepsy and has spiced up the typically sterile pages of medical journals.
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Basics of ACTH therapy
Children with various types of childhood epilepsy that do not respond to the usual seizure medicines may be candidates for treatment with adrenocorticotropic hormone or ACTH. ACTH is a first-line treatment for infantile spasms, but it is also used in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Landau-Kleffner syndrome, and electrical status epilepticus in sleep. Improvement in seizure control can be seen even in the most difficult-to-control epilepsy after treatment with ACTH. The child's developmental status also may improve.
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New guidelines should improve treatment but point out paradox
The two major organizations for healthcare professionals with an interest in epilepsy have come to a consensus on the use of newer antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) for new-onset epilepsy. Their report describes how they reviewed reports of clinical trials (testing in groups of patients) of the new generation of AEDs to determine whether the results support the use of each drug as first-line treatment for patients. The method, called ”evidence-based,” uses established definitions to rate the quality and reliability of “evidence” from clinical trials. The desirable “Level A” rating requires either one very well designed study or two somewhat lesser studies, all with positive results showing that the AED is effective.
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Audio Interview with Dr. Dan Lowenstein, President of the American Epilepsy Society
Early in 2004, Dr. Dan Lowenstein sat down with epilepsy.com to discuss research and innovations in treatment in the field of epilepsy. Dr. Lowenstein spoke about the promise of new treatments and advances in surgical options for people living with epilepsy. Furthermore, he discussed changes and advances in the areas of diagnostics and seizure prediction, as well as advances in imaging technology.
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