News

The Annual General Meeting of Brainwave The Irish Epilepsy Association (trading as Epilepsy Ireland) took place on 28^th September 2020. In light of ongoing social distancing requirements, the meeting was held via Zoom.

Whilst our dedicated team of Community Resource Officers continue to offer supports for people with epilepsy across the country during this pandemic, they have also been working on developing a new resource for people with epilepsy regarding issues with memory & wellbeing.

In another acknowledgement of the high quality research that is taking place in Ireland, researchers in FutureNeuro and the RCSI – in conjunction with their colleagues in Severo Ochoa-Centre for Molecular Biology and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) of Barcelona in Spain– have reported the identification of a new feature of how brain cells behave in people with temporal lobe epilepsy. Their work is published in the journal Brain.

New research from the USA has reported positive findings regarding the use of a Vitamin K based compound in the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy.

Together with our colleagues in OACS Ireland, Epilepsy Ireland have written again to Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, following up on our request for an urgent meeting to discuss the establishment of an independent inquiry for families impacted by Sodium Valproate (Epilim). Our further correspondence comes nine weeks after our initial correspondence with the Minister on this matter in the wake of the "First Do No Harm" report in the UK.

An updated Patient Information Leaflet has been published for women and girls that are taking Sodium Valproate (Epilim).

The Patient Information Leaflet has been updated to incorporate further research which has taken place on the potential impacts of the drug if prescribed in pregnancy. If a child is exposed to Sodium Valproate in utero, this can cause serious developmental disorders in 30-40% of cases; while in 10% of cases it can cause congenital malformations for the child.

A study presented at the European Academy of Neurology annual congress has found that mortality rates for epilepsy-related deaths did not decrease between 2009 and 2015 despite advances in treatment during this time.

The study was conducted by Dr. Gashirai Mbizvo from the University of Edinburgh who analysed anonymous data from healthcare settings around Scotland of patients who had died between 2009 & 2015.

A new study published in the Lancet has identified the world's first environmental risk factor for a common form of childhood epilepsy, Benign Childhood Epilepsy with Centro-temporal Spikes (BECTS). BECTS is also known as Benign Rolandic Epilepsy and accounts for about 20% of all childhood epilepsy. The mechanisms behind BECTS are not well understood, but but it is thought that genetic factors play a role in susceptibility to it.

A new article recently published in the medical journal Acta Neurologica Scandinavica has concluded that people with epilepsy should wear a facemask in public insofar as possible in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant challenges for the delivery of healthcare services across the country; it has also highlighted shining lights of our health service and areas which are being heralded as possible game-changers in healthcare delivery in a COVID-19 environment.