Archive for seizures
Inspired by her daughter, one mom helps families navigate complex epilepsy
Colleen Gagnon felt something wasn’t right soon after her daughter Niamh was born but tried to convince herself she was just overthinking. Fighting her instincts as a nurse and second-time mom, Colleen tried to link the dimple in Niamh’s forehead and darting eye movements to her being born six weeks early. But an eye doctor’s ... Read More
‘Mom, my brain feels better.’ One mother’s story of her daughter’s fight with epilepsy
Liliane has a lot to be grateful for this holiday season. Until just this year, her 16-year-old daughter Emily, who has epilepsy, suffered relentless seizures that left her temporarily unable to speak or stand. The seizures began when Emily was 4, and living her life around them was all she knew. But today, Emily is ... Read More
Back from the bench: How my AVM was a new beginning
It’s crazy how something you once thought was the worst thing that could ever happen to you turns out to be one of the best. My AVM is one of those things. My name is Davidson Jump. I’m from a small town in Ohio where football — high school football especially — is a big ... Read More
New insight into dietary approaches for epilepsy
Fasting has been believed since ancient times to curb seizures in epilepsy, and small patient studies in the early 1900s have revived the idea. But the reasons have remained mysterious. New research from Boston Children’s helps explain how fasting affects the brain at the molecular level. The findings could lead the way to new approaches ... Read More
Chasing Rett syndrome biomarkers: Could overnight EEG studies improve care?
In Rett syndrome, a genetic condition affecting girls almost exclusively, mutations in the MECP2 gene cause a regression of language and motor skills starting at 12 to 18 months of age. Children then usually stabilize, but how Rett will ultimately affect them is hard to predict. Some girls develop epilepsy; others have no seizures at ... Read More
Seeds of hope for Annie: one family’s story of epilepsy care
Ten-year-old Annie Dinan experienced her first noticeable seizure just before her fourth birthday while riding in the car with her family. “I had never seen a seizure in my entire life,” her mom, Lindsay, says of witnessing Annie lose then quickly regain consciousness. “But somehow, I knew exactly what it was.” Refusing to settle Following ... Read More
From our labs and clinics: 10 research advances in 2021
Pediatric medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital rests on a strong base of discovery science. But it can take decades for bench discoveries to be validated and replicated in humans and for treatments to be proven safe. When lab discoveries advance on the road to clinical application, it’s cause to celebrate. Here are 10 research success ... Read More
A promising new antiseizure drug tailored to newborns
Neonatal seizures can lead to serious consequences, including significant cognitive and motor disabilities, lifelong epilepsy, and death. They are often highly resistant to treatment, in part because seizures in newborns are fundamentally different from seizures in older children and adults. Yet they are treated in much the same way as older patients, with little change over the decades. Better treatment is ... Read More
I had a seizure. Here’s what I learned.
I was 11 when I had my seizure. I’m 15 now. I’ve learned a lot since that night, and I owe a lot of what I know to Dr. Alex Rotenberg and the team at Boston Children’s Hospital. They helped me understand what caused my seizure and how to prevent another one. But I’ve also ... Read More
Pinpointing Karlijn’s seizures: Neurosurgery helps teen get back to her life
Karlijn Kuiper was visiting her home country of the Netherlands a few years ago when the trouble began. At first, her family noticed she would zone out. “She had these strange spells where she would just stare,” remembers her mother, Marieke. At first, it didn’t occur to Karlijn’s family that they could be seizures. Like ... Read More