http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A team of scientists from The University of Alabama used worms to reel in information that they hope will lead to a greater understanding of cellular mechanisms that may be exploited to treat epilepsy. In a new research report in the journal Genetics, the researchers explain how the transparent roundworm, C. elegans, helped them identify key "molecular switches" that control the transport of a molecule (gamma-aminobutyric acid or "GABA") that if manipulated within our cells, might prevent the onset of seizures. http://www.physorg.com/news179588495.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:43:06 EST news179588495 (PhysOrg.com) -- A startup company, Neuropace in Mountain View Ca., has developed a device that offers new hope for epilepsy patients. The device is designed to neutralize the abnormal electrical activity in the region of the brain that causes seizures. http://www.physorg.com/news179580918.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:36:42 EST news179580918 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the UCL Institute for Child Health are developing the first anti-seizure drug specifically for newborn babies, with the aim of reducing brain damage. http://www.physorg.com/news178454673.html Medicine & Health Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:45:02 EST news178454673 A recent study determined there is a significant risk of seizure for individuals who currently smoke cigarettes. Boston-based researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School also found that long-term, moderate intake of caffeine or alcohol does not increase the chance of having a seizure or developing epilepsy. This is the first prospective study to examine the potential risks associated with cigarette smoking, caffeine intake, and alcohol consumption as they independently relate to epilepsy. Full findings of this study are currently available online and will appear in the February 2010 issue of Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy. http://www.physorg.com/news177763536.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:20:02 EST news177763536 A "miracle" Australian baby has become the first person cured of a rare and deadly brain-melting condition after doctors gambled on an experimental drug tested only on mice, they said Thursday. http://www.physorg.com/news176620927.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:50:01 EST news176620927 (PhysOrg.com) -- In a scientific first, researchers have been able to demonstrate the ability of humans to control the activity of individual brain cells. http://www.physorg.com/news175417796.html Medicine & Health Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:10:01 EST news175417796 The most common gene for a syndrome associated with abnormal heart rhythms and sudden death triggers epileptic seizures and could explain sudden unexplained death in epilepsy, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears today in the journal Science Translational Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news174749325.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:50:02 EST news174749325 In mice that are missing a protein found only in the brain, neural signals "go crazy," leaving the animals with epileptic seizures from a young age, researchers have found. The report in the September 18th Cell, a Cell Press publication, details what it is that happens when the protein encoded by plasticity related gene-1 (PRG-1) gets lost, revealing an important fine-tuning mechanism for brain function. http://www.physorg.com/news172409997.html Medicine & Health Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:40:53 EST news172409997 A study led by MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) investigators is providing new insight into the mechanism of neonatal seizures, which have features very different from seizures in older children and adults. In their report in the Sept. 10 issue of Neuron, the researchers describe finding how neurons in different parts of the brains of newborn mammals respond differently to the neurotransmitter GABA, an observation that may explain why seizure activity in the neonatal brain often does not produce visible convulsions and why the common antiseizure drug phenobarbital can exacerbate the invisible nature of neonatal seizures. http://www.physorg.com/news171723251.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:40:22 EST news171723251 (PhysOrg.com) -- What do abrupt changes in ocean circulation and Earth's climate, shifts in wildlife populations and ecosystems, the global finance market and its system-wide crashes, and asthma attacks and epileptic seizures have in common? http://www.physorg.com/news171117206.html Biology Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:34:19 EST news171117206 (AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first drug to treat infantile spasms, a rare disorder that can cause hundreds of seizures per day in children less than a year old. http://www.physorg.com/news170083987.html Medicine & Health Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:50:04 EST news170083987 Scientists at Leeds have prevented epilepsy caused by a gene defect from being passed on to mice offspring - an achievement which may herald new therapies for people suffering from the condition. http://www.physorg.com/news168539046.html Medicine & Health Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:24:39 EST news168539046 Children on the high-fat ketogenic diet to control epileptic seizures can prevent the excruciatingly painful kidney stones that the diet can sometimes cause if they take a daily supplement of potassium citrate the day they start the diet, according to research from Johns Hopkins Children's Center. http://www.physorg.com/news167416767.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:40:01 EST news167416767 (PhysOrg.com) -- Drugs that block a growth factor receptor on brain cells may prevent epilepsy after brain damage, according to a new study appearing in the July 15 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. http://www.physorg.com/news166861484.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:25:11 EST news166861484 Catastrophic epilepsy - characterized by severe muscle spasms, persistent seizures, mental retardation and sometimes autism - results from a mutation in a single gene, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. http://www.physorg.com/news166206260.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:00:03 EST news166206260 Researchers studying a difficult-to-treat form of childhood epilepsy called infantile spasms have developed a line of mice that experiences seizures with features closely resembling those occurring in patients with infantile seizures. These genetically engineered mice provide a new opportunity for scientists to test treatments that may benefit children. http://www.physorg.com/news163077300.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:15:31 EST news163077300 Inappropriate use of camphor-containing products may be a common and underappreciated cause of seizures in young children, according to a new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The study, published in this month's issue of Pediatrics, calls for efforts to educate communities about the hazards of camphor and to crack down on illegally marketed camphor products. http://www.physorg.com/news160830532.html Medicine & Health Wed, 06 May 2009 12:09:30 EST news160830532 An important genetic study conducted through Mayo Clinic has identified vital new information concerning alcoholism in subjects with European ancestry, according to a recent issue of Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research. http://www.physorg.com/news159723718.html Medicine & Health Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:42:45 EST news159723718 Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome (WHS) is a human disease caused by spontaneous genetic deletions. Children born with WHS have a characteristic set of facial features, including a wide flat nose bridge, downturned mouth, high forehead, and highly arched eyebrows. Other symptoms associated with this disease include heart defects, seizures, mental retardation, and skeletal abnormalities, and the severity of these symptoms varies between individual WHS patients. http://www.physorg.com/news159516543.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:09:28 EST news159516543 Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital have found that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can reduce the frequency of seizures in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), along with improving their overall quality of life. The study was published in the April 2009 edition of Epilepsy and Behavior. http://www.physorg.com/news159023187.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:07:07 EST news159023187 A new study published in Epilepsia reveals surgery for babies and toddlers suffering from epilepsy is relatively safe and is effective in controlling seizures. The findings also show that early surgery may have a positive impact on babies' brain development. http://www.physorg.com/news157035610.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:02:51 EST news157035610 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have discovered what could be causing Alzheimer`s disease sufferers to go on to develop epilepsy. http://www.physorg.com/news156698574.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:23:38 EST news156698574 Epilepsy is a common medical condition characterized by convulsions and short periods of confusion. It affects more than 50 million people worldwide. But intractable epilepsy, which affects more than 1 million Americans and is often resistant to drug treatment and surgery, is arguably worse. http://www.physorg.com/news156603451.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:58:06 EST news156603451 (PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of researchers, led by investigators at Columbia University Medical Center, has uncovered the first gene linked to the most common type of epilepsy, called Rolandic epilepsy. One out of every five children with epilepsy is diagnosed with this form, which is associated with seizures starting in one part of the brain. http://www.physorg.com/news152378040.html Medicine & Health Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:14:33 EST news152378040 Studies at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine on brain electrical signaling offer a fresh perspective on vertebrate evolution, provide additional evidence supporting Darwinian views of evolution, and may also lead to more effective treatment of epileptic seizures in infants. Researchers discovered how evolutionary changes produced a series of improvements in molecules generating electrical signals in nerves between 550 and 400 million years ago. By making nervous systems faster and smarter, these innovations appear to have contributed to the evolutionary success and diversity of vertebrate animals. http://www.physorg.com/news151687890.html Medicine & Health Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:32:26 EST news151687890 When babies develop a fever high enough or abrupt enough to cause a seizure, frightened parents often rush them to the emergency room, where their workup frequently includes a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to rule out bacterial meningitis. Now, in the largest study to date, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston find that this uncomfortable procedure is probably not necessary in well-appearing children who have had a simple febrile seizure. Findings are published in the January issue of Pediatrics. http://www.physorg.com/news150483552.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:59:12 EST news150483552 Two children have a seizure. One child never has another seizure. Twenty years later, the other child has a series of seizures and is diagnosed with epilepsy. A study being led by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is looking at what could possibly happen in the development of these two children that would lead to such extreme variations in their neurologic health. http://www.physorg.com/news150468657.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:50:57 EST news150468657 New therapies for some forms of epilepsy may soon be possible, thanks to a discovery made by a team of University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute neuroscience researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news147697831.html Medicine & Health Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:10:31 EST news147697831 A new study by researchers at UC Davis Medical Center suggests that the sudden unexplained deaths of some epilepsy patients may be a result of their brains not telling their bodies to breathe during seizures. http://www.physorg.com/news146159620.html Medicine & Health Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:53:40 EST news146159620 Compact, bedside brain-activity monitors detected most seizures in at-risk infants, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis showed. That means the compact units could assist clinicians in monitoring for electrical seizures until confirmation with conventional EEG (electroencephalography), the researchers assert in an article published in the June issue of Pediatrics. http://www.physorg.com/news134233847.html Medicine & Health Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:10:47 EST news134233847