To mark National Epilepsy Week, the Medication Safety Minute Team in conjunction with Dr Colin Doherty, Epileptologist in St. James’s Hospital, have produced an excellent series of four short videos to highlight the risks associated with sodium valproate (Epilim) if taken during pregnancy.
The term circadian disruption relates to disturbances in a person's "internal body clock" that regulates the 24-hour cycle of biological processes. The transition to daylight saving time (DST - putting the clocks forward for summer) is an annual event that can cause circadian disruption.
On March 22nd, the HSE, Epilepsy Ireland, OACS Ireland, FACS Forum and Trinity College Dublin came together to organise the first National Conference on The Consequences of Sodium Valproate (Epilim) in Trinity College.
GW Pharmaceuticals have announced positive top-line results of a new randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical trial of Epidiolex in the treatment of seizures associated with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC).
A Phase 3 study presented at the American Academy of Neurology's Annual Meeting in Philadelphia has provided new evidence of the benefits of pharmaceutical-grade cannabidiol (Epidiolex) in treating Dravet Syndrome. Dravet Syndrome is an infantile onset developmental and epileptic encephalopathy associated with drug-resistant seizures.
Epilepsy Ireland has been made aware of reports of difficulties with the supply of Frisium (Clobazam) 10 mg tablets recently. We have contacted the Irish Pharmaceutical Union and also the Health Products Regulation Authority to clarify what the position is currently.
There had been a delay with production of Frisium which led to stock being made available on a case by case basis in Ireland by the manufacturers Sanofi.
By Brian Geraghty, Epilepsy Care Foundation & Prof. Norman Delanty, Beaumont Hospital and RCSI
The Epilepsy Care Foundation has purchased land for the development of an All-Ireland Epilepsy Care and Research Centre (AIEC).
Epileptic seizures that last for an extended period of time are among the most common neurological emergencies in children observed in hospitals. These seizures have the potential to be fatal, however the faster doctors can reduce the effects of the seizure, the less chance there is of long-term complications.
Mark Cunningham is the recently appointed Ellen Mayston Bates Professor of Neurophysiology of Epilepsy at Trinity College Dublin. In this piece, he explains the importance of neuroscience in treating epilepsy. ‘
Electricity is life but electricity is an invisible fist punching up your spine, knocking your brains right out of your skull.’
Ray Robinson
A currently approved epileptic drug to treat seizures has been modified by a University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus professor and is currently being used in a clinical trial in Australia for medically refractory epilepsy.