News Briefs:

Extended Cell Phone Use Excites Brain

June 27, 2006
Italian researchers have reported that radiation from cell phones can have an effect on the brain's cortex when a phone is used for an extended period of time. The study monitored young men who used the phones for 45 minutes at a time and found that this continued use elevated the brain's electrical activity in the cortex, which is responsible for many high level functions.

The study did not conclude that cell phones are bad for people, but researchers did recommend further study of intense daily use of cell phones, particularly of people with epilepsy and other neurological conditions.

Study Finds No AED-Cancer Association

June 23, 2006
A Swedish research study, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry (June 2006), concludes that epilepsy is not associated with increased cancer risk. The study counters previous thought that long-term use of anti-epileptic drugs might lead to increased cancer risk.

Researchers monitored individuals with various types of cancer and also a control group for a period of two years and found that a diagnosis of epilepsy 2 years or more prior to cancer diagnosis did not appear to be associated with the types of cancer (leukemia, lymphoma, melanoma) studied. This observation held true for those individuals with epilepsy who were diagnosed more than 10 years prior to a cancer diagnosis.

The investigators, while sanguine about the initial findings, do recommend more studies on the use of anti-epileptic drugs and any cancer risk.

Steady "Theta" Rhythm Can Reduce Seizures

June 22, 2006
The June issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology releases the results of a study that could lead to development of new epilepsy treatments. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Texas-Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, found that inducing a steady "theta" rhythm in the brain's septum prevented seizures in anesthetized laboratory rats.

Neurons in the septum send signals to the hippocampus, an area of the brain that plays a role in memory, spacial navigation and sensory motor integration. During a seizure, the rate of brain waves in this area increase dramatically from their normal 3-12 Hz, a frequency that is called the theta rhythm.

Researchers used a variety of methods, from regulating the rats' anesthesia, injecting the rats' septum with an antiepileptic drug and pinching the tail, to induce the theta rhythm, thus stopping seizures.

For individuals with idiopathic - source unknown - seizures, this research could lead to the development of new medications and treatment methods.

Studies Offer Clues to Non-Epileptic Seizures

June 13, 2006
The results of three news studies published in the June edition of the journal Neurology reveal data about psychologically based seizures that may help clinicians to better treat and diagnose patients.

The first study showed that nearly 30 percent of individuals diagnosed with epilepsy actually have "psychogenic" seizures that are a result not of abnormal electrical activity in the brain but are rather of psychological origin. One differentiating characteristic is that, where people experiencing psychogenic seizures almost always close their eyes, those with epileptic seizures do not. People who do not have epilepsy tend not to respond to medications.

Researchers found that seniors (55 and over) tended to have psychogenic seizures as a result of health-related traumatic experiences related to aging, whereas younger people with psychogenic seizures were more likely to have experienced sexual abuse. And the third study also examined how different age groups and seizures. Observing individuals treated in emergency rooms for continuous seizures, known as "status epilepticus," that were unresponsive to medications. The study found that younger patients tended to have lower blood levels of creatine kinase, a muscle enzyme that normally rises after seizures.

The results of these studies may help physicians and people with seizures to better determine whether the seizures are psychogenic or epilepsy-related, and subsequently guide treatment decisions.

New Drug May Prove Safer than Decades Old Treatment

June 13, 2006
A potentially new and safe drug treatment for epilepsy has been developed by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Pharmacy, according the university's website. The new drug is a potential alternative to valproic acid (VPA), which has been a treatment for epilepsy since 1967. VPA, however, has side effects that can cause damage especially to children or to women of child-bearing years. Professors Meir Bialer and Boris Yagen have developed the drug, called propylisopropyl acetamide (PID), which demonstrates antiepileptic activities without the side effects common to VPA. The researchers received a grant from The Epilepsy Therapy Development Project to do further evaluation work.