Sharp Waves: ILAE's epilepsy podcast

Send comments and feedback ILAE spoke with Action Amos, from the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE) about plans and strategies for improving epilepsy care across Africa. Leveraged by the Intersectoral Global Action Plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders, four "trendsetter" countries are taking a variety of approaches to engage governments, increase public awareness, and e...

Send comments and feedback Dr. Anca Arbune interviews two authors of a recent critical review on managing epilepsy in the elderly , developed by the ILAE Commission on Epilepsy in Older Adults. They discuss choosing an anti-seizure medication, monitoring cognitive changes, assessing quality of life, status epilepticus, the potential of epilepsy surgery, and the need for more research. Listeners in...

Send comments and feedback Dr. Bruna Nucera interviewed Dr. Andrea Cheng-Hakimian about a retrospective study that included 28 years of data from women with epilepsy who gave birth in Washington State . This US study compared the relative occurrence of selected pregnancy outcomes and postpartum rehospitalizations among women with and without epilepsy and their infants. It used linked hospital reco...

Send comments and feedback Can we improve epilepsy outcomes by bringing care closer to home? A cluster randomized trial compared home care with community health workers to standard clinic care. ILAE spoke with Dr. Gagandeep Singh and Dr. Meenakshi Sharma, authors of the study publication , which was published in Epilepsia Open . Twenty-four clusters, each comprising 10 people with epilepsy, were r...

Send comments and feedback How has the crisis in Ukraine affected people with epilepsy and their families, as well as the physicians who care for them? Dr. Alina Ivaniuk speaks with Dr. Olha Tychkivska about the volunteer efforts to provide anti-seizure medication to people in Ukraine, as well as Ukrainians who fled to other countries. Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only...

Send comments and feedback Stigmatizing people with epilepsy is a form of discrimination, and it can affect all aspects of someone's life: school, family life, work, friendships, relationships, and marriage. The International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE) , ILAE's partner organization, consulted people with epilepsy and their families to produce a toolkit for addressing epilepsy stigma in Af...

Send comments and feedback Jessie Nyirenda's seizures began in her early teens. She was dismissed as attention-seeking and told she might be cursed. Years later, Jessie discovered information about her condition through library research and was formally diagnosed. She now works as a financial educator and is a mother of three children. Jessie was part of an advisory board to the International...

Send comments and feedback Bidirectional links between epilepsy and sleep have been known for thousands of years. Despite nearly a century of research using EEG investigations, the relationships are still not well understood. Dr. Laurent Sheybani interviewed Dr. Birgit Frauscher, an epileptologist and sleep specialist at the Montreal Neurological Institute. They discussed what is known about sleep...

Send comments and feedback Dr. Andres Kanner is one of the best known researchers in the behavioral aspects of epilepsy, and has authored more than 300 papers and book chapters.  Dr. Kanner sat down with ILAE to talk about his original goal of becoming an artist, his path to epileptology, and how he has worked to become what patients call "an amazing, compassionate doctor". He is directo...

Send comments and feedback Improving lesion detection in people with drug-resistant epilepsy is crucial for optimal surgical outcomes. The MELD Project is an open-science consortium using deep learning principles to develop automated lesion detection of clinical MRI data. Dr. Maryam Nabavi Nouri spoke with Dr. Konrad Wagstyl about the project, publications, progress, and goals. Currently, the MELD...

Send comments and feedback Dr. Alina Ivaniuk talks with Dr. Caroline Neuray about her career path from medical school to industry CEO. (It's not as direct as it sounds!) They discuss the power of peer mentoring, ways to improve medical education, finding the courage to accept change, and what's up with those comments from reviewer #2, anyway. Dr. Neuray is Chief Executive Officer of Epil...

Send comments and feedback First-line immunotherapy and the ketogenic diet are two main recommendations for treatment of NORSE/FIRES of unknown cause, according to results from an international consensus group published in Epilepsia . Dr. Maryam Nabavi Nouri interviews first author Dr. Ronny Wickstrom. For cases with unknown etiology,  first-line immunotherapy should be considered within 72 hours...

Send comments and feedback Nurses have been called the "glue" of epilepsy care, but their value and impact aren't always appreciated. The ILAE Nursing Section welcomes nurses from every country to help advocate for a better understanding of what nurses do, how their care improves outcomes in people with epilepsy, and how nurses can contribute to the goals of the Intersectoral Global...

Send comments and feedback Does in utero exposure to anti-seizure medication affect motor and mental development? A study using data from the Kerala Registry of Epilepsy in Pregnancy included more than 1,300 infants. Those exposed to valproate monotherapy, as well as any polytherapy, had higher risks of developmental delay. Dr. Bruna Nucera talked with Dr. Sanjeev Thomas about the findings and imp...

Send comments and feedback What are the associations between Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy?  Dr. Patricia Saletti interviews Dr. Andrew Cole and Dr. Alice Lam. Recent studies have revealed intriguing connections between epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease, including a bidirectional increased risk and subclinical seizures in people with Alzheimer's. What do these relationships mean f...

Send comments and feedback Dr. Alina Ivaniuk interviews Dr. Meriem Bensalem-Owen about growing up in Algeria, attending medical school during a civil war, moving to the United States for training, and starting Kentucky's first epilepsy fellowship program. Dr. Bensalem-Owen directs the epilepsy program at the University of Kentucky and is a past board member of the National Association of Epil...

Send comments and feedback What is autoimmune-associated epilepsy, and how is it different from acute seizures with an autoimmune cause? How can clinicians best diagnose and treat these conditions? Sharp Waves reporter Dr. Maryam Nabavi-Nouri spoke with Dr. Claude Steriade. Claude Steriade, MD, CM is originally from Quebec City, Canada. She completed medical school at McGill University in Montreal...

Send comments and feedback We talk with the authors of a recent study that found a higher incidence of epilepsy in more socially deprived areas of County Cork, Ireland. How was the dataset compiled, and what are the implications of their findings? Read the full study (open access) in Epilepsia : Association between social deprivation and incidence of first seizures and epilepsy: A prospective popu...

Send comments and feedback Dr. Alina Ivaniuk talks with Dr. Fábio Nascimento about his medical training and the factors contributing to his successful and varied career path. Dr. Nascimento became the director of Washington University’s Adult Tuberous Sclerosis Center Clinic in summer 2022, after completing an epilepsy and clinical neurophysiology fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. He i...

Send comments and feedback What does it take to define and classify 39 epilepsy syndromes?  Dr. Elaine Wirrell chaired the ILAE task force that undertook this charge in 2017.  Through in-person meetings, Zoom calls, emails, and gallons of coffee, the group of international experts shaped four classification papers, along with a fifth explaining the methodology and listing the syndromes. We also sp...

Send comments and feedback As many as two-thirds of women with epilepsy have seizures that fluctuate with their menstrual cycles. Called catamenial epilepsy, the phenomenon has three distinct patterns. In this episode of Sharp Waves , Dr. Bruna Nucera talks with Dr. Herzog about the three patterns of catamenial epilepsy, the possible mechanisms behind these seizure exacerbations, and how sex hormo...

Send comments and feedback In this episode, we talk with a third-year medical student, a neuroscience researcher, an avid rock climber, and a young man with epilepsy. The catch: They’re all the same person. Rick Nolan, 28, is a medical student from the US who also has done graduate coursework in neuroscience, publishing a study of his own brain in 2020. Nolan was diagnosed in his early 20s with ep...

Send comments and feedback Schools can be an important focus for screening of children for epilepsy, as well as educational efforts to address basic knowledge, stigma, and misconceptions associated with epilepsy. Schools also are an appropriate and necessary place to provide seizure first aid to affected students, teachers, and staff, as well as rescue medications when needed. There is strong stig...

Send comments and feedback Katja Kobow is the most recent winner of the Michael Prize, an international award in epilepsy research. Her work focuses on epigenetics and epilepsy, a field that has grown exponentially in only the past 10 to 15 years. Dr. Kobow talked about her research and its potential for epilepsy diagnosis and treatment. Epigenetics is the bookmarking system or the data management...

Send comments and feedback Can women with epilepsy get pregnant, give birth to healthy babies, and breastfeed? What are the myths and misconceptions around epilepsy during pregnancy, and what do physicians and women need to know? Dr. Anca Arbune interviews Dr. Page Pennell about the latest research and knowledge. Women with epilepsy were once counseled to avoid pregnancy, but epilepsy is no longer...