Sharp Waves: ILAE's epilepsy podcast

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Dr. Luis Oliviera is parent to a son with an ultra-rare developmental and epileptic encephalopathy.  He's also a researcher with the Michael J. Fox Foundation.  He created an organization bringing parents and researchers together to better understand his son's disorder, which is part of a  group of disorders caused by rare mutations in v-ATPase genes. Dr. Oliviera was interviewed by Dr. Alina Ivaniuk.

Visit the v-ATPase Alliance website

Contact the v-ATPase Alliance

What is v-ATPase?

Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.

Let us know how we're doing:  [email protected]

The International League Against Epilepsy is the world's preeminent association of health professionals and scientists, working toward a world where no person's life is limited by epilepsy. Visit us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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The Idea of Epilepsy, published in 2023, covers the history of epilepsy from multiple perspectives over the past 160 years. It ends with a tantalizing question: Does epilepsy actually exist? Dr. Phillip Pearl interviews author Dr. Simon Shorvon about why and how he wrote the book and what it has to offer clinicians, researchers, and non-scientists alike.

More about The Idea of Epilepsy (from the publisher)

Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.

Let us know how we're doing:  [email protected]

The International League Against Epilepsy is the world's preeminent association of health professionals and scientists, working toward a world where no person's life is limited by epilepsy. Visit us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Send comments and feedback

Are people who have their first seizure during sleep at greater or lesser risk for future seizures, compared with people who have their first seizure when they're awake? Dr. Laurent Sheybani interviews Dr. Elaine Pang, author of a 2023 paper in Epilepsia that analyzed data from 1,312 adults visiting a first-seizure clinic.

This episode also discusses a 2015 evidence-based guideline on managing a first unprovoked seizure in adults. The guideline was developed by the American Academy of Neurology and the American Epilepsy Society.

Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.

Let us know how we're doing:  [email protected]

The International League Against Epilepsy is the world's preeminent association of health professionals and scientists, working toward a world where no person's life is limited by epilepsy. Visit us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Send comments and feedback

Dr. Raphael Mechoulam was an organic chemist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the father of cannabis research. His team was the first to elucidate the structure of cannabidiol, or CBD. 

Dr. Mechoulam passed away in March 2023. This episode is a remastering of a conversation between Dr. Mechoulam and Dr. Meir Bialer, held in 2018 at the 13th European Congress on Epileptology. They spoke about CBD, THC, the endocannabinoid system, and the effects of cannabinoids in epilepsy and other conditions.

Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.

Let us know how we're doing:  [email protected]

The International League Against Epilepsy is the world's preeminent association of health professionals and scientists, working toward a world where no person's life is limited by epilepsy. Visit us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Send comments and feedback

Nearly one-third of people with autism also have epilepsy. Researchers aren't sure why. 

For people on the spectrum, epilepsy can prompt unique challenges. Seizure symptoms can be misinterpreted as common autistic behaviors. Treatment may also be difficult due to the stress of a clinical setting, or the impact of anti-seizure medications on autism symptoms. Currently, some experts argue that there is a lack of research in assessing these care pathways. 
 
To learn more about diagnosis and treatment for people with autism and epilepsy, Joy Mazur spoke to Dr. Colin Reilly and Dr. Stéphane Auvin.

Related studies/links:

Epilepsy in patients with autism: links, risks and treatment challenges Besag FMC, et al., 2017

Neurobehavioral Comorbidities in Children with Active Epilepsy: A Population-Based Study Reilly C, et al., 2014

Traditional and non-traditional treatments for autism spectrum disorder with seizures: an on-line survey Frye RE, et al., 2011

Epilepsy and autism - National Autistic Society

Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.

Let us know how we're doing:  [email protected]

The International League Against Epilepsy is the world's preeminent association of health professionals and scientists, working toward a world where no person's life is limited by epilepsy. Visit us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Send comments and feedback

Dravet syndrome is a rare, severe epilepsy caused by changes in a gene called SCN1A. The changes cause the gene to stop functioning normally. But not everyone with this type of genetic change develops Dravet syndrome, and people with Dravet also have a wide range of clinical characteristics, which can't be fully explained by these changes. What else is going on? We spoke with Dr. Sanjay Sisodiya about a recent publication on genomic influences in Dravet syndrome.

This episode is based on a recent publication in the journal Brain:
Widespread genomic influences on phenotype in Dravet syndrome, a ‘monogenic’ condition

Dravet syndrome is a rare severe epilepsy typically caused by loss-of-function SCN1A variants. Despite a recognizable core phenotype, Dravet syndrome also has phenotypic heterogeneity, which cannot be explained by clinical factors or SCN1A variants. 

This relatively small study (34 adults) found that additional genomic variation contributes to the diversity of phenotypes found in Dravet syndromes. The authors suggest that the SCN1A variant may need to act against a "broadly compromised genomic background" to generate the full Dravet syndrome phenotype, and that genomic resilience may contribute to a reduction in mortality risk among adults with Dravet syndrome. 

Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.

Let us know how we're doing:  [email protected]

The International League Against Epilepsy is the world's preeminent association of health professionals and scientists, working toward a world where no person's life is limited by epilepsy. Visit us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Send comments and feedback

Sara Staggs was a civil rights attorney and pregnant with her second child when her doctors told her to stop practicing law: her seizures had become too frequent. Staggs' 2023 novel, Uncontrollable, fictionalizes her experiences with epilepsy and provides insight into how epilepsy affects families, careers, and relationships. 

Staggs talked with Dr. Alina Ivaniuk about her epilepsy history, her surgical evaluation experiences, and how she pivoted from attorney to author.

Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.

Let us know how we're doing:  [email protected]

The International League Against Epilepsy is the world's preeminent association of health professionals and scientists, working toward a world where no person's life is limited by epilepsy. Visit us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Send comments and feedback

We'll frame today's talk around a paper recently published in the European Journal of Neurology:  "The incidence and risk factors associated with seizures in cerebral amyloid angiopathy." With us today is the first author of the article, Dr. Brin Freund. 

Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.

Let us know how we're doing:  [email protected]

The International League Against Epilepsy is the world's preeminent association of health professionals and scientists, working toward a world where no person's life is limited by epilepsy. Visit us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Send comments and feedback

Diet treatments are often used with the aim of reducing seizure frequency and severity — but they may have other benefits as well.

Findings from a recent study conducted in Norway suggest that dietary treatments may normalize emotional symptoms and that health-related quality of life (HRQOL) might be an indicator of successful diet treatment in the future. Joy Mazur spoke with Dr. Magnhild Kverneland about the study's results and its implications.   

Health-related quality of life in adults with drug-resistant focal epilepsy treated with modified Atkins diet in a randomized clinical trial was published in Epilepsia in March 2023.

Related studies:

Anxiety and depressive disorders in people with epilepsy: A meta-analysis Scott A, et al., 2017

Modified ketogenic diets in adults with refractory epilepsy: Efficacious improvements in seizure frequency, seizure severity, and quality of life Roehl K, et al., 2019

Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.

Let us know how we're doing:  [email protected]

The International League Against Epilepsy is the world's preeminent association of health professionals and scientists, working toward a world where no person's life is limited by epilepsy. Visit us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Send comments and feedback

Some published data suggest that besides their effect on cholesterol, statins also may play a neuroprotective role in some neurological disorders, including epilepsy. Dr. Bruna Nucera interviews Dr. Anthony Marson and Dr. Emilio Russo about whether and how to test statins as potential anti-epileptogenic drugs.

Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.

Let us know how we're doing:  [email protected]

The International League Against Epilepsy is the world's preeminent association of health professionals and scientists, working toward a world where no person's life is limited by epilepsy. Visit us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.