BrainBlog

The cognitive impact of antiepileptic drugs Ther Adv Neurol Disord. 2011 Nov; 4(6): 385-407 Eddy CM, Rickards HE, Cavanna AE Abstract Effective treatment of epilepsy depends on medication compliance across a lifetime, and studies indicate that drug tolerability is a significant limiting factor in medication maintenance. Available antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have the potential to exert detrimental effects on cognitive function and therefore compromise patient wellbeing. On the other hand, some agents may serve to enhance cognitive function. In this review paper, we highlight the range of effects on cognition linked to a variety of newer and older AEDs, encompassing key alterations in both specific executive abilities and broader neuropsychological functions. Importantly, the data reviewed suggest that the effects exerted by an AED could vary depending on both patient characteristics and drug-related variables. However, there are considerable difficulties in evaluating the available evid...

A press release from the NIH: Ultrathin flexible brain implant offers unique look at seizures in NIH-funded research 13 November 2011 [snippet] Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a flexible brain implant that could one day be used to treat epileptic seizures. In animal studies, the researchers used the device — a type of electrode array that conforms to the brain's surface — to take an unprecedented look at the brain activity underlying seizures. "Someday, these flexible arrays could be used to pinpoint where seizures start in the brain and perhaps to shut them down," said Brian Litt, M.D., the principal investigator and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. The findings appear in this month's Nature Neuroscience . The team will also discuss their findings at the 2011 Society for Neuroscience meeting, Nov. 12-16 in Washington, D.C. "This group's work reflec...

Everyday verbal memory and pediatric epilepsy Epilepsy and Behavior. 2011 Jul; 21(3): 285-290. Chapieski L, Evankovich K, Hiscock M, Collins R Abstract This study addressed the reliability and validity of reports of everyday verbal memory with a sample of 132 pediatric patients with epilepsy. Each patient and one parent completed a questionnaire on everyday verbal memory comprising two scales assessing learning/retrieval and prospective memory. Each patient was also administered tests of memory, attention, and academic skills. Information about attention, mood, and academic performance was obtained from parent and teacher report, as well as self-report. Memory test scores were correlated with children's reports of learning and retrieval in everyday activities, but were not significantly associated with reports of prospective memory. Reports of everyday memory were found to be reliable and predictive of academic performance. Performance on tests of memory, conversely, was unrelated...

From the FDA: FDA NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: Oct. 24, 2011 FDA approves Onfi to treat severe type of seizures On Oct. 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Onfi tablets (clobazam) for use as an adjunctive (add-on) treatment for seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in adults and children 2 years of age and older. As Onfi is intended to treat a disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States, it was granted orphan drug designation by the FDA. “Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is a severe form of epilepsy that causes debilitating seizures,” said Russell Katz, M.D., director of the Division of Neurology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “This is a difficult condition to treat, and it will be helpful to have an additional treatment option.” Read the full release

FDA rejects a new epilepsy drug from Valeant, GSK FierceBiotech 02 December 2010 Read FierceBiotech article here === Earlier blog post on topic, from 12th August: here ===

From FierceBiotech FDA panel backs new epilepsy drug from GSK, Valeant August 12, 2010 — 7:41am ET By John Carroll "GlaxoSmithKline and Valeant got a solid endorsement for their new epilepsy drug Potiga (ezogabine) from the FDA's panel of experts, putting them on track to a likely approval. The experts unanimously agreed that the drug would benefit epilepsy patients whose meds couldn't stop seizures. And they agreed that careful monitoring would flag patients who experience an inability to urinate while taking the drug." Read the full article

The conference homepage: American Epilepsy Society Conference

Di Flatt, manager of the fundraising team at Epilepsy Action, has her hour on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square at 1700 hrs, Saturday. She is one of the 2400 taking part in Antony Gormley's One & Other project. You can read about Di and view a refeed of her plinth hour at DiFlatt . You can watch her live at One&Other . Read all about the 60th anniversary of Epilepsy Action .

From The Utica Observer-Dispatch : Obama adviser speaks about epilepsy locally Axelrod also touts healthcare reform By ELIZABETH COOPER Observer-Dispatch Posted Sep 12, 2009 @ 09:01 PM Last update Sep 12, 2009 @ 10:59 PM WHITESBORO —Amid the national debate on health care, a top White House adviser related his personal story about troubles his family encountered in getting care for a daughter with epilepsy. David Axelrod, a close adviser to President Barack Obama, was the keynote speaker at a fundraiser for Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, known as CURE, at Hart's Hill Inn Saturday evening. Axelrod's wife, Susan Landau, is one of the founders of CURE, and she has come to the Mohawk Valley in the past for CURE fundraisers, though Saturday was Axelrod's first visit. More than 700 people attended Saturday's fundraiser, which raised $207,000. Before the event, he took questions from reporters about his personal story, and said it had been “the cause of our lives to...

From a press release by the FDA: Sabril Approved by FDA to Treat Spasms in Infants and Epileptic Seizures Sabril (vigabatrin) Oral Solution has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat infantile spasms in children ages 1 month to 2 years. Sabril is the first drug in the United States approved to treat the disorder, characterized by a severe type of seizure that usually appears in the first year of life, typically between ages 4 months and 8 months. The disorder can be debilitating because of the frequency of difficult-to-control daily seizures. Sabril (vigabatrin) Tablets have been approved for adult use in combination with other medications to treat complex partial seizures that have not responded adequately to previous drug therapies. “Seizures can cause impaired nervous system function and reduced quality of life,” said Russell Katz, M.D., director of the Division of Neurology Products at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Infantile spasms i...

Frings L, Wagner K, Maiwald T, Carius A, Schinkel A, Lehmann C, & Schulze-Bonhage A. Early detection of behavioral side effects of antiepileptic treatment using handheld computers. Epilepsy and Behavior. 2008 Aug; 13(2) :402-406. Epilepsy Center, University Hospital of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany. OBJECTIVE: Treatment-emergent side effects are frequent events, particularly during the uptitration of antiepileptic drugs. So far, monitoring of such adverse events in outpatients has often been limited to intervals of weeks or months. We here report the application of a new device for temporally fine-grained assessment of objective well-being and cognitive performance using personal digital assistants (PDAs). METHODS: Twenty adult patients with epilepsy participated in this pilot study. Ten received add-on treatment with levetiracetam. Ten patients with constant medication served as a control group. Differences between groups with respect to self-rated cognitive condition, psychophysi...

Meador KJ, Gevins A, Loring DW, McEvoy LK, Ray PG, Smith ME, Motamedi GK, Evans BM, & Baum C. Neuropsychological and neurophysiologic effects of carbamazepine and levetiracetam. Neurology. 2007 Nov 27; 69(22): 2076-2084. Department of Neurology, University of Florida, McKnight Brain Institute (L3-100), 100 South Newell Drive, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. BACKGROUND: The relative effects of levetiracetam (LEV) and carbamazepine (CBZ) on cognitive and neurophysiologic measures are uncertain. METHODS: The effects of LEV and CBZ were compared in healthy adults using a randomized, double-blind, two-period crossover design. Outcome measures included 11 standard neuropsychological tests and the score from a cognitive-neurophysiologic test of attention and memory. Evaluations were conducted at screening, baseline pre-drug treatment, end of each maintenance phase (4 weeks), and end of each washout period after drug treatment. RESULTS: A total of 28 adults (17 women) with mean age of 33 ye...

The 61st annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society (AES) will take place in Philadelphia, from the 30th of November through the 5th of December. Details about the meeting can be found on the meeting webpage of the AES website.

From the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation : Neurological conditions cost Canada nearly $9B a year: report Last Updated: Friday, June 22, 2007 | 5:02 PM ET CBC News Neurological conditions such as stroke and Alzheimer's disease cost Canada nearly $9 billion a year in direct costs, say neurologists who warn the health-care system may not be able to handle increased costs of an aging population. Early diagnosis of neurological diseases will help reduce long-term costs, says Dr. Charles Tator. Friday's report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, titled The Burden of Neurological Diseases, Disorders and Injuries in Canada is a consensus report by neurologists who tallied the costs of 11 conditions they treat: Alzheimer's disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) Brain tumours Cerebral palsy Epilepsy Head injury Headaches Multiple sclerosis Parkinson's disease Spinal injuries Stroke The conditions represent an estimated almost seven per...