Renee Thomas proudly talks about how her 9-month-old foster son, Steven, took his very first step a few days ago. It was a shaky attempt, but it was a big accomplishment for the youngster. He is dealing with infantile seizures that come with epilepsy -- the result of being born with herpes encephalitis, a viral infection in his brain that was passed to him through his biological mother. Thomas took Steven in when he was 2 months old, despite warnings from social workers in Tulare County about the child's medical history. "I said 'Yes, I"ll take him.' It didn't matter to me," says Thomas during an appointment with Dr. Andrew Mower at Children's Hospital Central California in February. There was really no need to caution Thomas, who herself was a foster child and has dealt with dyslexia all her life. When she thought about taking in a foster child, her five biological children -- the youngest is 14 years old -- had confidence their mom would be up to the challenges that came from Steven's epilepsy. "I prayed and said 'Lord, whatever child you need in my house, that I can help and is dear to my heart, I'll do … Continue reading →

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The market for epilepsy, a brain disorder marked by spontaneously occurring and recurrent seizures, is primarily driven by the sales of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) aimed at reducing these seizures. At present, the worldwide AED market is dominated by UCBs Keppra and GlaxoSmithKlines Lamictal, with both drugs forming the mainstay of epilepsy treatment in the nine markets and likely to keep on enjoying remarkable market share up to 2022. The AED market landscape, however, is expected to be dominated by newer generation drugs, such as Vimpat (lacosamide) UCBs drug that is currently indicated as an adjunctive therapy for partial-onset seizures in individuals over the age of 17. Unlike other sodium channel-targeting AEDs, Lacosamide is the only drug that reduces voltage-gated sodium channel availability by selective enhancement of slow inactivation, but without apparent interaction with fast-inactivation gating. New market research report Vimpat (Epilepsy) - Forecast and Market Analysis to 2022 created by GlobalData offers a comprehensive guide to the global epilepsy drugs market, with a particular focus on newer generation Vimpat (lacosamide). The study provides an in-depth overview of this neurologic disease covering epidemiology, etiology, symptoms, diagnosis, pathology and treatment guidelines, besides providing an understanding of the changing competitive landscape. … Continue reading →

Autism mom and web-show host Shannon Penrod will shave her head April 8, 2013, live on http://www.autism-live.com, in an effort to encourage people to put Compassion in Action during National Autism Awareness Month. (PRWEB) March 06, 2013 Ive never done anything like this before, says Shannon. Yes, its daring. But its the least I can do during Autism Awareness Month to encourage others to do what they can to help someone in need. Shannons nine-year-old son, Jem, was diagnosed with autism at the age of two after losing approximately 90 percent of his language and social skills. He is currently receiving intensive applied behavior analysis (ABA) treatment, considered by researchers to be the most effective treatment of autism. I often marvel at the sometimes complete lack of compassion for what my son has gone through and what so many other families dealing with autism are going through. These moments leave me feeling powerless, and Ive decided to do something about it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in every 88 children in America is diagnosed with autism. Autism is more prevalent than juvenile diabetes, pediatric cancer, and childhood AIDS combined. Starting this week and each week … Continue reading →

The 3rd Annual ACT Today! for Military Families 5k/10k Run/Walk and Family Festival will be held on April 6, 2013 in San Diego, California. (PRWEB) March 05, 2013 The ONEHOPE ATMF 5k/10k Run/Walk and Family Festival event will feature a flat, scenic course starting at Tecolote Shores Park in Mission Bay. Participants can choose between the 5k, 10k (both chip-timed) or 1-mile Fun Run. The Family Festival will follow the Run/Walk and is free for the entire community. It will feature music, a wine and beer garden sponsored by ONEHOPE Wine and Stone Brewing Co., 35+ vendor booths and the Center for Autism and Related Disorders Kids Zone that will include inflatables, carnival games, face painting, arts & crafts. Each race entry includes an event t-shirt, complimentary coffee or hot chocolate from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, a complimentary mini sub from Jersey Mike's Subs, entry into the post-race raffle and a complimentary beer from Stone Brewing Co. or ONEHOPE Wine (must be 21 and over). Military families impacted with autism face unique challenges as a result of frequent deployments and change of duty stations in addition to a complex healthcare system, says ACT Today!s Executive Director Nancy Alspaugh-Jackson. … Continue reading →

When someone suffers a stroke, the cells at the center of the catastrophic brain damage may be too injured to be saved. But scientists are striving to rescue the area that surrounds the wound using stem cells -- a new approach that offers hope that these supported cells can take over the work of their dead comrades. There's no proof yet that this novel approach will work in humans. Carefully controlled studies of its effectiveness won't be complete for several years. However, it shows signs of safety and effectiveness in animals, according to new data presented at a weekend conference on brain injury sponsored by the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Rehabilitation Research Center. No ill effects have been seen in the first dozen patients treated in a study at Stanford University and four other research hospitals, using a product called SB623. The Mountain View-based biotech company SanBio produces it from adult, not embryonic, stem cells culled from the bone marrow of healthy donors. The cells are genetically modified and given a booster that seems to improve their function. Tests in mice show that symptoms improve, enabling the animals to eat and walk more normally over a six-month period. In … Continue reading →

Mar. 5, 2013 A bedside electronic device that measures eye movements can successfully determine whether the cause of severe, continuous, disabling dizziness is a stroke or something benign, according to results of a small study led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers. "Using this device can directly predict who has had a stroke and who has not," says David Newman-Toker, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of neurology and otolaryngology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and leader of the study described in the journal Stroke. "We're spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year on expensive stroke work-ups that are unnecessary, and probably missing the chance to save tens of thousands of lives because we aren't properly diagnosing their dizziness or vertigo as stroke symptoms." Newman-Toker says if additional larger studies confirm these results, the device could one day be the equivalent of an electrocardiogram (EKG), a simple noninvasive test routinely used to rule out heart attack in patients with chest pain. And, he adds, universal use of the device could "virtually eliminate deaths from misdiagnosis and save a lot of time and money." To distinguish stroke from a more benign condition, such as vertigo linked to an inner … Continue reading →