News and Features Related to Epilepsy
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Epilepsy May Be Linked to Infertility Risk
Oct. 11, 2010 -- More than one-third of women with epilepsy may experience problems becoming pregnant, according to a new study of women from India. This rate is more twice as high as the infertility rate seen among Indian women in the general population. The study is published in the Oct. 12 issue
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My WebMD: A Teen Copes with Epilepsy
I had my first real epileptic seizure when I was 5 years old. My mother says my eyes were rolling and I was staring off into the distance. She was terrified. What I had is called a "petit mal" seizure or an "absence" seizure. It’s called that because there’s a lapse in conscious activity for a coupl
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New Epilepsy Drug Potiga Gets FDA Panel Nod
Aug. 11, 2010 -- Potiga, a new epilepsy drug, should be approved in the U.S. as an add-on treatment, an FDA expert advisory panel today voted. Potiga, known generically as ezogabine in the U.S. and as retigabine elsewhere, works differently than current epilepsy drugs. That's a good thing, as about
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Study: No Proof of Epilepsy Drug Suicide Risk
Aug. 4, 2010 -- Drugs used by epilepsy patients to control seizures now carry a warning that the medications may increase the risk for suicide, but a newly published analysis involving more than 5 million people finds no evidence of such a risk. The study is the latest to challenge a 2008 research r
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Certain Epilepsy Drugs Linked to Suicide
July 26, 2010 -- New research challenges the idea that all epilepsy drugs are associated with an increased risk for suicide. The study found that certain newer epilepsy medications, but not older ones, were linked to an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in patients taking the drugs f
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Birth Defects Linked to Valproic Acid
June 9, 2010 -- Women with epilepsy who take valproic acid during the first trimester of pregnancy are more likely to have children with birth defects than women who took other epilepsy drugs or no medicine to control their seizures during pregnancy. The findings appear in the June 10 issue of the N
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Deep Brain Stimulation Stops Seizures
March 18, 2010 -- Deep brain stimulation may offer a new treatment option for fighting epileptic seizures in those who don't respond well to other therapies. A new study shows deep brain stimulation, which involves implanting tiny electrodes in the brain that release electrical pulses, reduced the f
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Zarontin Gets High Marks for Kids' Epilepsy
March 4, 2010 -- One of the oldest drugs used to treat the most common form of pediatric epilepsy is also the most effective, a study shows. As many as 17% of children with epilepsy have absence seizures, also known as petit mal seizures, which involve brief but frequent staring spells that can occu
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Epilepsy Treatment: Finding the Right Medication
Taking epilepsy drugs has always been a fact of life for most people living with epilepsy. And until the 1990s, choosing an epilepsy drug was comparatively simple: only a handful were available. In the past 15 years, epilepsy treatment for controlling seizures has come a long way. The number of avai
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Epilepsy Medications: When Is It Safe to Substitute a Generic?
The FDA says generic epilepsy drugs are no different from generic drugs for other conditions: virtually identical to brand-name drugs in their effects. Therefore, there's no problem substituting generic drugs for epilepsy. But many doctors who specialize in treating epilepsy don't agree. For a small
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