New research gives hope for Infantile Spasms (IS) treatment

View this email in your browser ([link removed])


** CURE Epilepsy Discovery
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]


** Identifying a Promising Novel Treatment for
Infantile Spasms
------------------------------------------------------------
by Dr. John Swann

Standard treatments for IS work in only 50% of patients and can have severe side effects. The need for additional effective therapies drove Dr. Swann and his team to explore a more effective treatment ([link removed]) with fewer or, ideally, no side effects.

Infantile spasms (IS) ([link removed]) is a rare catastrophic form of epilepsy with approximately 90% of the cases beginning within the first year of life [1,2]. The condition is characterized by seizures with sudden brief jerking movements of the arms and legs or head bobs and often, though not always, an atypical, chaotic pattern of brain waves on the electroencephalogram (EEG) known as hypsarrhythmia [3]. The seizures are accompanied by significant development delays as well as cognitive and physical deterioration [2]. Standard treatments include adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) or prednisone, and the antiseizure medication vigabatrin [4]. Unfortunately, only approximately 50% of children with IS respond to these treatments and there remains no reliable way of predicting who will respond favorably [4]. Even if these treatments diminish IS symptoms for a specific patient, they can have serious side effects. Therefore,
scientists have been searching for other drug targets with the ultimate goal of developing alternative therapies.

One of these scientists is Dr. John Swann, Professor of Pediatrics at the Baylor College of Medicine, who leveraged findings from his work as part of the CURE Epilepsy Infantile Spasms Initiative ([link removed]) (2013-2017). With additional funding from NIH, Dr. Swann and his team used a previously developed rat model of IS [5] that mirrors many of this disorder’s symptoms, to investigate spasms that result from pediatric brain injuries ([link removed]) , such as those suffered during a traumatic birth.
Read More ([link removed])

============================================================
Today's CURE Epilepsy Discovery has the ability to help the 65 million people worldwide
who are impacted by epilepsy every day.
And each one of those individuals has a story.
** ([link removed])
** Hear Kajal's story ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** LinkedIn ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
Our mission is to find a cure for epilepsy, by promoting and funding patient-focused research. CURE Epilepsy is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.Our tax identification number is 36-4253176.
** ([link removed])
Copyright © 2022 CURE Epilepsy, All rights reserved.
In the past you provided CURE Epilepsy your email address. Occasionally, you will receive updates from us about epilepsy research and news.

Our mailing address is:
CURE Epilepsy
420 Wabash Ave, Ste 650
Chicago, IL 60611
** Add us to your address book ([link removed])

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.

This email was sent to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
why did I get this? ([link removed]) unsubscribe from this list ([link removed]) update subscription preferences ([link removed])
CURE Epilepsy . 420 Wabash Ave, Ste 650 . Chicago, IL 60611 . USA