Epilepsy - Biotech, Pharma and Life Science Channel
Epilepsy is defined as a disorder of brain function characterized by recurrent seizures that have a sudden onset. (Oxford Medical Dictionary). A seizure is caused by a sudden burst of excess electrical activity in the brain, causing a temporary disruption in the normal message passing between brain cells. The types of seizure depends on which area of the brain is affected and to what extent.
It may be idiopathic; not associated with structural damage to the brain, or result from trauma to the head (eg difficult birth, infection or stroke).
Epilepsy affects one in 131 people. Tests such as the electroencephalogram (EEG) are used to help diagnosis of epilepsy. With the lack of a cure, epilepsy is managed with anti-epileptic medication (which is successful and common; about 70 per cent of people with epilepsy could have their seizures completely controlled).
Much research is being conducted into the neurological origins on seizures and the pathways that conduct them, in the hope of finding neurotransmitters or pathways that could hopefully lead to a cure.
Source; Adapted from Epilepsy Action (UK)
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News Articles
Epilepsy Foundation Elects New Board Of Directors And Chairman
LANDOVER, Md., May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Epilepsy Foundation, a national organization dedicated to serving all people with seizures, today announced the election of its first of...
Insero Health Reports Positive Data on Phase I Trial of Novel Therapy for Drug-resistant Epilepsy
MIAMI, May 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Insero Health, Inc., a company developing natural compounds to address unmet medical needs in epilepsy and related neurological disorders, is today repo...
MIAMI, May 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Epilepsy Foundation today announced the 2013 winner of the Epilepsy Therapy Project Second Annual "Shark Tank" competition for the most i...
Stanton Optical Gives Back to the Community Through Local and National Corporate Donations
PALM SPRINGS, Fla., May 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Stanton Optical is especially proud of their community involvement program with the support of both non-profit charity organizations and humanit...
Natus Medical to Hold 2013 First Quarter Financial Results Conference Call on May 20
Natus Medical Incorporated (Nasdaq:BABY) today announced that the Company intends to release its 2013 first quarter financial results before the market opens on Monday, May 20, 20...
UCB and IBM Collaborate to Personalize Care for Epilepsy Patients
ARMONK, N.Y. and BRUSSELS, May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- regulated information -- UCB and IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced the completion of the initial phase of a project designed to harness the po...
Actor John O'Hurley Hosts New AAN Epilepsy Video
MINNEAPOLIS, May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Television actor and "Dancing with the Stars" winner John O'Hurley is the host of Epilepsy: A Guide for Patients and Families, the latest free...
HOUSTON, May 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Cyberonics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYBX) today announced that the company will report financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended April 26, 2013, on Wedne...
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALXA) announced today that the Company has been selected to present its AZ-002 (Staccato® alprazolam) prog...
BioCrea / European approval granted for Pexion® - innovative treatment for canine epilepsy discovered by BioCrea, developed and launched by Boehringer Ingelheim . Processed and transmitted by Thoms...
Events
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Companies
Based in Yehud, Israel, CerebralRx was founded in 2010 as a spin-off of BioControl Medical to develop breakthrough implantable neuromodulation systems for the treatment of autonom...
Aestus Therapeutics and Prosidion Ltd.
Aestus Therapeutics, Inc. is a translational medicine company focused on serious neurological diseases. Capitalizing on genomic data analysis to discover novel links between these...
Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products for the treatment of central nervous system, or CNS, diseas...
Eisai is committed to developing and delivering highly beneficial new treatments to help improve the lives of people with epilepsy. The development of AEDs is a major strategic ar...
NeuroTherapeutics Pharma, Inc.
NeuroTherapeutics Pharma is a privately held life sciences company which is focused on the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for patients suffering from CNS disorder...
Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc.
Upsher-Smith, founded in 1919, is an independent and privately-owned specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in Maple Grove, Minnesota that focuses on product growth and in...
VistaGen Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing breakthrough drugs for disorders of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and diabetes. Our lead drug candidate AV-101 targets two large CNS...
Kyle and Rose Epilepsy (KARE) Foundation
Join the Kyle and Rose Epilepsy (KARE) Foundation and their partner Target for the 1st Annual E-Race Epilepsy 5K Run & Walk at the Philadelphia...
Neurologix, Inc. (OTCBB:NRGX) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of life-altering gene transfer therapies for...
NeuroPace was founded to design, develop, manufacture and market implantable devices for the treatment of neurological disorders by responsive brain stimulation. The company's initial focus is the tre...
Clinical Trials
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Vanquix for the management of selected, refractory, patients with epilepsy who require intermittent medical intervention provided by caregivers who a...
Factors Associated With in Suboptimal Prescribing for Older Patients With Epilepsy
Nearly 2% of veterans >65 are actively treated for epilepsy, and the incidence is projected to increase with the aging of our society. Since commonly used antiepileptic drugs are considere...
Cardiac Rhythm Abnormalities in Patients With Refractory Epilepsy at High Risk for Sudden Death
People with epilepsy are at a higher risk for sudden unexpected death than the general population. Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a major cause of death in this population...
The purpose of this study is to determine if a drug called topiramate is safe and effective as an add-on therapy in the treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Topiramate is an...
The purpose of this study is to determine if treatment using a medication (Arimidex), which lowers estrogen levels in the blood is better than placebo, a tablet that does not contain any a...
Patients with focal epileptic seizures with or without generalization who are at present treated with one or two antiepileptic drugs are eligible for this study, provided that they fulfill...
Open Label Safety and Efficacy Study of Levetiracetam in Patients With Epilepsy
Community based study assessing safety and efficacy of levetiracetam in partial onset seizures. The optimal dose in daily clinical practice will be used.
Open Label Safety and Efficacy Study of Levetiracetam in Korean Patients With Epilepsy
A Korean open-label, community-based trial assessing the efficacy and safety of levetiracetam as adjunctive therapy in partial epilepsy. Similarity with a similar study conducted in Cauca...
This trial, evaluating the long-term safety and tolerability of brivaracetam will provide subjects suffering from epilepsy, who may have benefited from brivaracetam as adjunctive treatment...
An open-label, follow-up study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of levetiracetam (LEV), in children (≥ 4 years old), adolescents and adults suffering from primary generalized seizure...
PubMed Articles
Nrf2 defense pathway: Experimental evidence for its protective role in epilepsy.
Objective: Epigenetic mechanisms involved in transcriptional regulation of multiple molecular pathways are potentially attractive therapeutic interventions for epilepsy, since single target therapies...
Mutations in TNK2 in severe autosomal recessive infantile-onset epilepsy.
We identified a small family with autosomal recessive, infantile-onset epilepsy and intellectual disability. Exome sequencing identified a homozygous missense variant in the gene TNK2, encoding a brai...
INTRODUCTION. Epilepsy is a chronic illness that requires a long-term periodic follow-up of the patient and this means that as time goes by the number of patients attended increases, with the ensuing...
The Long-Term Safety of Antiepileptic Drugs.
Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are used by millions of people worldwide for the treatment of epilepsy, as well as in many other neurological and psychiatric conditions. They are frequently associated with...
In the past, the cortex has for the most part been considered to be the site of seizure origin in the different forms of epilepsy. Findings from histopathologic, electrophysiologic, and brain imaging...
Treating myoclonic epilepsy in children: state-of-the-art.
Introduction: Myoclonic seizures can be observed in various clinical settings and different epileptic conditions, including some forms of both diopathic and symptomatic epilepsies. Relatively little h...
Sodium valproate use is associated with reduced parietal lobe thickness and brain volume.
We hypothesized that total brain volume, white matter volume, and lobar cortical thickness would be different in epilepsy patients. We studied valproate relative to nonvalproate by using patients with...
Whole-brain functional connectivity increases with extended duration of focal epileptiform activity.
The analysis of interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) using magnetoencephalography (MEG) is utilized for the localization of seizure onset zones in the presurgical planning of epilepsy patients. A...
AIMS: Mutations in the SCABR2 gene cause a rare autosomal recessive disease, progressive myoclonus epilepsy (PME) with or without renal failure, the former also being designated action myoclonus-renal...
Introduction: Neuronal T-type calcium channels (T-type channels) are expressed throughout the central nervous system (CNS), regulating neuronal excitability. T-type channels in the CNS are involved in...
Videos
Epilepsy & Staying Active
For epileptics it is very good to stay active. I have found that staying active reduces stress and for me it takes the fact that I have the VNS. Website http...
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Hemispherectomy
A neurosurgical procedure that removes or disconnects the epileptogenic CEREBRAL CORTEX of a hemisphere. Hemispherectomy is usually performed for patients with intractable unilateral EPILEPSY due to malformations of cortical development or brain lesions. Depending on the epileptogenic area in the hemisphere, cortical removal can be total or partial.
Anterior Temporal Lobectomy
A neurosurgical procedure that removes the anterior TEMPORAL LOBE including the medial temporal structures of CEREBRAL CORTEX; AMYGDALA; HIPPOCAMPUS; and the adjacent PARAHIPPOCAMPAL GYRUS. This procedure is generally used for the treatment of intractable temporal epilepsy (EPILEPSY, TEMPORAL LOBE).
Split-brain Procedure
Complete severing of the CORPUS CALLOSUM. In humans it is usually performed to treat medically intractable, multifocal EPILEPSY. EXPERIMENTAL ANIMAL MODELS of split brain preparations are used in research.
Kcnq Potassium Channels
A family of delayed rectifier voltage-gated potassium channels that share homology with their founding member, KCNQ1 PROTEIN. KCNQ potassium channels have been implicated in a variety of diseases including LONG QT SYNDROME; DEAFNESS; and EPILEPSY.
Channelopathies
A variety of neuromuscular conditions resulting from MUTATIONS in ION CHANNELS manifesting as episodes of EPILEPSY; HEADACHE DISORDERS; and DYSKINESIAS.
