MONDAY, Sept. 6, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Danish researchers have found genetic causes for epilepsy in half of children they studied and said half of those could be treated with targeted therapies. That’s the upshot of genetic testing of 290 children born between 2006 and 2011. Some had been diagnosedContinue Reading

THURSDAY, Aug. 26, 2021 (HealthDay News) — A new approach to spinal cord stimulation may drastically reduce chronic back pain, a small pilot study suggests. The study, of 20 patients with stubborn low back pain, tested the effects of implanting electrodes near the spinal cord to stimulate it with “ultra-low”Continue Reading

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 4, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Since 2008, anti-seizure drugs have carried a warning that they may increase users’ suicide risk. But a new analysis finds no evidence of such a risk with newer medications. Researchers found that five medications approved since 2008 showed no link to suicide riskContinue Reading

TUESDAY, July 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) — About one in 20 kids hospitalized with COVID-19 develop debilitating brain or nerve complications that could haunt some for a long time, a new British study reports. Children with severe infections can suffer from brain inflammation, seizures, stroke, behavior changes, hallucinations and psychosis.Continue Reading

MONDAY, July 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) — “Shock” therapy often helps lift severe depression, but fear and stigma can deter patients from getting it. Now a large new study is confirming the treatment’s safety. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), as it’s medically known, has been around for decades. For almost as long,Continue Reading

THURSDAY, June 24, 2021 (HealthDay News) — A year on, nearly all patients in a French study who lost their sense of smell after a bout of COVID-19 did regain that ability, researchers report. “Persistent COVID-19-related anosmia [loss of smell] has an excellent prognosis, with nearly complete recovery at oneContinue Reading

TUESDAY, May 25, 2021 (HealthDay News) — If you can’t stand broccoli, celery or kale, you may be a supertaster, and it just might protect you from COVID-19. Supertasters are folks who are highly sensitive to bitterness. They’re not only less likely to get COVID-19 than people who aren’t soContinue Reading

MONDAY, May 10, 2021 (HealthDay News) — New research gives insight into why people with epilepsy are at increased risk of sudden death during sleep. The study found that both sleep and epileptic seizures work together to slow heart rate, and that seizures also disrupt the body’s natural regulation ofContinue Reading

WEDNESDAY, April 7, 2021 (HealthDay News) — A combination of hearing and vision loss is tied to an increased risk of mental decline and dementia, but having just one of those impairments isn’t connected with a higher risk, a new South Korean study finds. It’s not clear why a diminishingContinue Reading