Izaiah Ruiz, of Conroe, Tex., was diagnosed with Dravet syndrome, a rare form of pediatric epilepsy, when he was 7 months old. The Dravet Syndrome Foundation estimates that anywhere from 1 in 20 to 1 in 40,000 children have the condition. Causing hundreds of seizures a day, it is commonly misdiagnosed.(Photo courtesy Lori Fountain) Six-year-old Izaiah Ruiz has countless seizures a day due to a rare form of pediatric epilepsy. Now, a marijuana-derived drug may help him and his family avoid the debilitating attacks. Izaiah had his first seizure when he was just 2 months old and was diagnosed with Dravet syndrome, a condition that begins in infancy, five months later. The disease, also called Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy (SMEI), is intractable, meaning it does not respond to any currently available treatment. While 60 percent of epilepsy cases do respond, 40 percent, including those linked to Dravet syndrome, do not. When Izaiah has a tonic clonic seizure the type with muscles spasms that most people think of when they hear the word seizure his grandmother, Lori Fountain, follows a military-like procedure to calm and monitor him. Immediately, its getting on the floor and laying him down on his side, … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise Among the problems people with Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) struggle with are difficulties with social behavior and communication. That can translate to an inability to make friends, engage in routine conversations, or pick up on the social cues that are second nature to most people. Similarly, in a mouse model of ASD, the animals, like humans, show little interest in interacting or socializing with other mice. One drug, risperidone, works in both humans and mice with ASD to treat other symptoms of the disorderincluding repetitive behaviors--but no medication has been found to help socialization. Now researchers at UCLA have treated ASD mice with a neuropeptide--molecules used by neurons to communicate with each other--called oxytocin, and have found that it restores normal social behavior. In addition, the findings suggest that giving oxytocin as early as possible in the animals life leads to more lasting effects in adults and adolescents. This suggests there may be critical times for treatment that are better than others. The study appears in the January 21 online edition of the journal Science Translational Medicine. Mouse models of neuropsychiatric diseases provide a platform for understanding the mechanisms behind disorders and … Continue reading →

Babies with a sibling with autism have an elevated risk of developing it 'Video therapy' may stop these babies developing the syndrome Therapy involves a therapist filming parents interacting with their baby They play the tapes back to the parents so they can spot signs of autism Parent learns how to better understand and communicate with their child This in turn improves the child's communication and social skills Experts say treatment could prevent the onset of autism in some children In others it could mean they develop a less severe form of the syndrome By Madlen Davies for MailOnline Published: 19:03 EST, 21 January 2015 | Updated: 12:01 EST, 22 January 2015 286 shares 13 View comments Infants at risk of developing autism could be helped by pioneering video technology that could stop the condition in its tracks, scientists say. The therapy, which teaches parents how to better communicate with their babies, could prevent infants with a high risk of autism from developing the disorder. The intervention is primarily aimed at babies who have an older sibling with autism - and therefore an elevated risk themselves. Previous research has found the earliest risk markers of autism - such as a … Continue reading →

Video-based therapy for families with babies at risk of autism improves infants' engagement, attention and social behavior, and might reduce the likelihood of such children developing autism, according to new research published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal. "Our findings indicate that using video feedback-based therapy to help parents understand and respond to their infant's individual communication style during the first year of life may be able to modify the emergence of autism-related behaviours and symptoms," [1] explains Jonathan Green, lead author and Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Manchester, UK. "Children with autism typically receive treatment beginning at 3 to 4 years old. But our findings suggest that targeting the earliest risk markers of autism--such as lack of attention or reduced social interest or engagement--during the first year of life may lessen the development of these symptoms later on." [1] Previous research has found that the earliest risk markers of autism--such as a lack of attention to a parent, reduced social interest or engagement, and decreased eye contact--may be present as early as a child's first year of life, but until now, no treatment trials have assessed the possibility of modifying these early markers with the … Continue reading →

A group of Samsung engineers has come up with a system that monitors your brain, to warn you of an impending stroke. Samsung's prototype system combines a smartphone app with brainwave sensors to detect the early signs of stroke. Samsung Tomorrow A group of Samsung engineers have come up with a plan to harness the power of your phone or tablet to warn you of an impending stroke. By monitoring your brainwaves the system would detect the early signs of a stroke, and could one day be built into your glasses to keep you safe all the time. A stroke happens when the blood supply to part of your brain is cut off by a clot or damaged by a bleed, which causes brain cells in the affected area to die. According to the World Health Organisation, 15 million people across the world suffer from a stroke each year. Around 66 per cent of those people die or are left with permanent physical disabilities. To combat the problem, five Samsung engineers have come up with a prototype system called Early Detection Sensor & Algorithm Package (EDSAP). There are two parts to the system: a headset, covered in sensors that record … Continue reading →