Epilepsy Talk
Hospitals Criticized For Keeping Quiet On Charity Care…
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“Too many nonprofit hospitals fail to adequately publicize their charity-care programs, two advocacy groups say in a survey report…
Tags: charity care, criticized, free or discounted care, indebted patients, nonprofit hospitals, under-insured, unpaid bills
Is Epilepsy Inherited?
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Just because you have a parent, sibling, cousin or aunt who has epilepsy doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have it also.
In fact, if you have a close relative with epilepsy, the chance of you having epilepsy is only about 2-5%, depending on the specific type of epilepsy.
The risk in the general population is about 1-2%.
On the other hand, there is a 92-98% chance for the close relative of someone with epilepsy to NOT have the same condition!
So, even though the risk in families with epilepsy is higher than in the general population, most people with epilepsy do not have any relatives with seizures, and the great majority of parents with epilepsy do not have children with epilepsy.
Tags: Epilepsy, family risk, genetic abnormalities, genetic testing, Research, seizure threshold, seizure-free, seizures
Good news, there’s a new AED in town!
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On November 19, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved cenobamate (XCOPRI®) for the treatment of focal epilepsy in adults. This medication will be available in the pharmacy by the spring or summer of 2020.
Tags: focal epilepsy, lower seizure frequency, new drug, XCOPRI
Blood Tests May Help Diagnose Epilepsy
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A recent study shows that a simple blood test can determine whether or not someone has had an epileptic seizure.
Doctors at Stanford University, California, reveal that the level of the hormone prolactin may be indicative of the type of seizure and can be measured by this blood test.
The blood test which must be used within 10 to 20 minutes after a seizure, can identify generalized tonic-clonic seizures and complex partial seizures in both adults and older children, because the level of prolactin in the blood goes up.
What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
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All of us have dreams. Some become reality…and some stay in our imaginations.
For me, writing was my “dream”. And it became a reality when I discovered a way I could write without starving.
Sodium and Seizures
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You may think that sodium is a “bad guy” to be avoided or reduced at all cost, because too much is linked to high blood pressure.
But sodium is actually an essential electrolyte, and a deficiency can trigger seizures.
Seizures from low sodium levels are most likely to occur from a serious disease, acute infection or because you tried to run a marathon on a hot day.
One-time or isolated seizures from these causes don’t warrant a diagnosis of epilepsy.
However, epilepsy is sometimes misdiagnosed and you may have an underlying health condition that’s causing an electrolyte problem.
Tags: balance, blood panel, coma, death, high sodium, low sodium, monitoring, seizures, sodium
My little bundle of love is home…
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We’re back from Chicago, after getting home at 2:30 in the morning.
Emily is a cute as can be. Right now she looks like a little twig. All brown and a little over two pounds.
Away I go, from Saturday 11/16 through Tuesday 11/19
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You might remember the piece I wrote called “Prayer for a Cat,” in memory of our two-year old kitty who died of incurable peritonitis. (Who would think a cat could get peritonitis?)
Well her successor is ready to come home and take a place in our house and our hearts…
Tags: 11/16-11/19, cat show, Chicago, Emily Louise, kitten, peritonitis, Prayer for a Cat
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