Cannabis substance reduces seizures

Epilepsy is a disorder that causes unprovoked, recurrent seizures. Seizure is a sudden electrical activities in the brain.  Some patients treated for epilepsy continue to have seizures after the treatment.

Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the many active compounds in the cannabis (marijuana) plant can be effective for treating epilepsy. Purified CBD is being tested, but artisanal formulations of CBD (oils) are already available and being used by some patients.

To evaluate the efficacy of artisanal CBD for patients with epilepsy, Robert Carson, MD, PhD, and colleagues performed a retrospective study of medical records obtained from Vanderbilt's BioVU resource.

They found that among 108 pediatric patients with epilepsy, 39 percent who added CBD oil to their treatments experienced a 50 percent reduction in seizures, 10 percent became seizure-free, and 22 percent were able to decrease doses of other anti-seizure medications.
CBD oil can be used for treating seizure reduction with few side effects.
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Effects of brain tickle on memory

Tickling the brain with low-intensity electrical stimulation in a specific area can improve verbal short-term memory. Mayo Clinic researchers report their findings in Brain. The researchers found word recall was enhanced with stimulation of the brain's lateral temporal cortex, the regions on the sides of the head by the temples and ears.

Patients recalled more words from a previously viewed list when low-amplitude electrical stimulation was delivered to the brain. One patient reported that it was easier to picture the words in his mind for remembering.

Human memory for language information can be improved by directly stimulating this underexplored brain area. Memory impairments are a prevalent, costly problem in many brain diseases. Medication and behavioral therapies have limited effectiveness in many cases. While electrical stimulation of the brain is emerging as potential therapy for a wide range of neurological and psychiatric diseases, little is known about its effect on memory.

The memory testing was done with patients undergoing evaluation for surgery to address seizures. These patients agreed to have their memory investigated using the electrodes implanted in their brains for surgical evaluation. It is common for people with epilepsy to have memory problems because the brain circuits that underlie memory function often are affected by epilepsy.

In the study, patients were instructed to read a list of words-one at a time from a computer screen. Electrical stimulation was applied some of this time. Patients then attempted to freely recall the words in any order. The researchers found enhanced memory performance in the patients with stimulation of the lateral temporal cortex but not among those with the other brain regions stimulated.
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Topiramate increases the risk of oral clefts

The anti-epileptic drug topiramate has been increasingly prescribed over the last decade not only to prevent seizures, but also to treat bipolar disorder and migraine headaches. In addition, topiramate is a component of a recently FDA-approved drug for weight loss. Past studies have found that women taking topiramate during early pregnancy to prevent epileptic seizures had greater chance of giving birth to a baby with an oral cleft, but such studies did not focus on women taking the drug at a lower dose for non-seizure related conditions.

 A new study by investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health suggest that using topiramate in early pregnancy, particularly at the high doses used for epilepsy, increases the risk of oral clefts. The new work leverages nationwide Medicaid data on more than 1 million live births from between 2000 and 2010.

The team examined the risk of oral clefts -- including cleft palate or cleft lip -- among three groups: infants born to women who had taken topiramate in their first trimester; infants born to women who had taken the drug lamotrigine (an unrelated drug used to treat bipolar disorder and epilepsy); and infants who had not been exposed to anti-epileptic medications in utero.

They found that the risk of oral clefts was approximately three times higher for the topiramate group than for either the lamotrigine or the unexposed group. Approximately one out of every 1,000 infants are born with an oral cleft, but among infants exposed to low doses of topiramate (median 100-mg daily dose) in the first trimester, that risk was 2.1 out of every 1,000 live births.

Among women taking higher dose topiramate (median 200-mg daily dose), the risk was much higher -- 12.3 for every 1,000 live births. Women with epilepsy on topiramate have the highest relative risk of giving birth to a baby with cleft lip or cleft palate, likely due to the higher doses of topiramate when used for controlling seizures.
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Human memory improved with electrical stimulation

Neuroscientists have discovered precisely where and how to electrically stimulate the human brain to enhance people's recollection of distinct memories. People with epilepsy who received low-current electrical pulses showed a significant improvement in their ability to recognize specific faces and ignore similar ones.

Eight of nine patients' ability to recognize the faces of specific people improved after receiving electrical pulses to the right side of the brain's entorhinal area, which is critical to learning and memory. However, electrical stimulation delivered to the left side of the region, tested on four other people, resulted in no improvement in the patient's recall.

Human memory can be strengthened by electrically stimulating the brain's entorhinal cortex. The researchers followed people with epilepsy who had ultrafine wires implanted in their brains to pinpoint the origin of their seizures. The team monitored the wires to record neuron activity as memories were formed, then sent a specific pattern of quick pulses back into the entorhinal area.

Using the ultrafine wires allowed researchers to precisely target the stimulation but use a voltage as low as one-tenth to one-fifth. The study suggests that low currents of electricity can affect the brain circuits that control memory and human learning. It also illustrates the importance of precisely targeting the stimulation to the right entorhinal region. Other studies that applied stimulation over a wide swath of brain tissue have produce conflicting results. Electrical stimulation could offer promise for treating memory disorders like Alzheimer's disease.
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How biological clock affects male fertility

Waiting until forties before trying to become fathers could reduce male fertility because sperm DNA becomes damaged with age.

Frequent cell division to make new generation of sperm daily increases errors in cell formation as men get older and the risk increases everyday. Genetic errors may get into sperm as men aged.

The cumulative effect of these errors as cell division goes on and on and on affects children produced by older men. Autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia are associated with older sperm.

Older men may not be able to impregnate a woman naturally, it may take a long period of time to archive conception and risk of miscarriage is very high.

Healthy lifestyle can prevent DNA damage and changes to genes. Men must eat healthily diet, avoid smoking, engage in regular physical activities and avoid hot baths, as sperm likes cool temperatures to be in good reproductive shape.
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Ketogenic diets can cure diabetes

Diabetes is a group of metabolic diseases of high blood glucose (blood sugar), either because insulin production is inadequate, or because the body's cells do not respond properly to insulin, or both.

Ketogenic diet involves eating five per cent carbohydrates, 20 per cent protein and 75 per cent fats per day. Foods high  in fat are nuts, cheese, fish, meat and avocado.

It was created in 1924 to reduce seizures in children with epilepsy, but has become a popular weight loss tool. Instead of using glucose from carbohydrate for fuel, the body is forced into ketosis, when the body metabolises fat as fuel.

Reducing carbohydrates in food reduce  blood sugar levels and insulin levels. It
can also lower blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels

Ketogenic diet can cause hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, mental fogginess,
fatigue and headaches, kidney stones and bone fractures.









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Zika may trigger epilepsy in infants

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC,  Zika virus may trigger cases of epilepsy in infants.

Among 48 babies from Brazil with probable congenital Zika infection, 24 had clinical seizures.

CDC said apart from 48 babies with clinical seizures in Brazil. 7 out of 13 Zika infected babies have epilepsy.

The brain abnormalities caused by Zika is associated with epilepsy and seizures, parents are encouraged to report seizures and epilepsy in infants and young children in the hospital for the right treatment.