Epilepsy

Stress is behind some seizures rather than the neurological disorder epilepsy, researchers at Johns Hopkins have determined. A team of doctors and psychologists evaluated patients admitted to Hopkins' inpatient epilepsy monitoring unit for treatment of intractable seizures. They believe a third have symptoms only mimicking epilepsy and have been misdiagnosed. These are war veterans, mothers in child-custody battles and over-extended professionals. They seem to have uncontrolled movements, far-off stares or convulsions, but the symptoms are not the result of abnormal electrical discharges in the brain characteristic of epilepsy.

Stress is behind some seizures rather than the neurological disorder epilepsy, researchers at Johns Hopkins have determined. A team of doctors and psychologists evaluated patients admitted to Hopkins' inpatient epilepsy monitoring unit for treatment of intractable seizures. They believe a third have symptoms only mimicking epilepsy and have been misdiagnosed. These are war veterans, mothers in child-custody battles and over-extended professionals. They seem to have uncontrolled movements, far-off stares or convulsions, but the symptoms are not the result of abnormal electrical discharges in the brain characteristic of epilepsy.

Why did Vincent van Gogh slice off a portion of one of his ears and disrobe in an art gallery among other strange behaviors? Of course, no one knows for certain, but there are a number of competing theories, including alcoholism, chemical poisoning, glaucoma, manic-depression, schizophrenia, sunstroke, syphilis and -- according to Eve LaPlante -- epilepsy. Did whatever ailed van Gogh affect his art? On that point, there appears to be unanimity that it did.Eve LaPlante, a free-lance magazine writer, enters this discussion with her own affirmative, sorting out the symptoms in van Gogh as well as Alfred Lord Tennyson, Gustave Flaubert, Fyodor Dostoevski, Lewis Carroll, Jonathan Swift and others (both well-known and not)

Megan Elphage lives in fear of another big epileptic seizure. The 22-year-old Glen Burnie woman had her first seizure when she was 13. Even though medications largely keep her epilepsy under control, the prospect of seizures means she can't drive, which makes it difficult getting to classes at Anne Arundel Community College. She dreams of becoming a lawyer, but keeping a job is a challenge. She said her last employer in a retail store feared her disorder. New research on the best way to administer drugs that stop seizures could prove life-changing, as well as life-saving, for Elphage and others.

A new epilepsy drug, the first approved in 15 years, promises to control seizures without the harsh side effects common with more traditional treatment.Felbatol was approved last week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prevent epileptic seizures in people 14 and older, or in the 10 percent of children with epilepsy who have seizures from a condition called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, which are difficult to treat.But the drug is likely to be used, as many drugs are, for other patients, including younger children or people with mild seizures.

For eight weeks, Samari Rolle kept his condition a secret. "I didn't know if I could play, if I would be all right or anything," the Ravens veteran cornerback said. "It was very scary." But yesterday Rolle disclosed that he has epilepsy, a neurological condition that affects the nervous system and can cause seizures. He decided to publicly talk about his epilepsy "because it's under control now. Right now, I'm not scared." He has had three seizures this season, which have kept him out of six games.

A Maryland biotechnology company said yesterday that the Food and Drug Administration has given it tacit approval to market its new drug to treat epilepsy in the United States, one of the first new drugs to be approved for the disease in 15 years.Final regulatory approval for the drug known as Carbatrol rests on Rockville-based Shire Laboratories Inc.'s meeting certain manufacturing requirements for the drug.Krystyna Belendiuk, senior vice president for business development at Shire Laboratories -- known as Pharmavene, Inc. until it was bought recently by Shire Pharmaceuticals of Andover, England -- said the company "fully expects to meet the FDA's requests."

Grace Rolle remembers the crash and the silence that followed. "You've heard of a mother's intuition?" she asked recently. "I heard a loud noise, and it sounded like somebody fell. After about two minutes, I thought that it didn't sound right. When I went downstairs to the garage, the papers were strewn everywhere." Then she saw her son, Samari, on the ground, conscious but dazed. "His lip was busted, his tongue was messed up and his neck was swollen," she said. "They have sharp, concrete stairs.

It was the middle of the night when Constance Hoyt awakened to find her husband, John, making anguished sounds while his arms and legs jerked around. The couple was living in Asuncion, Paraguay, where they worked in a Christian academy, and Constance Hoyt was sure she was losing her husband. Hours later, at a hospital, doctors concluded he had suffered a heart attack. A pacemaker was implanted. It was not until months later, after two more such episodes, that the Hoyts were referred to Dr. R. Eugene Ramsay at the University of Miami and learned that Hoyt, a retired pastor, had epilepsy.

Megan Elphage lives in fear of another big epileptic seizure. The 22-year-old Glen Burnie woman had her first seizure when she was 13. Even though medications largely keep her epilepsy under control, the prospect of seizures means she can't drive, which makes it difficult getting to classes at Anne Arundel Community College. She dreams of becoming a lawyer, but keeping a job is a challenge. She said her last employer in a retail store feared her disorder. New research on the best way to administer drugs that stop seizures could prove life-changing, as well as life-saving, for Elphage and others.

Shaking, sweating and swooning are par for the course among the passionate young fans of the "Twilight" series. But reports that a scene in "Breaking Dawn" has been sparking seizures in theaters nationwide has epilepsy experts on the alert and parents thinking twice about letting their kids see the movie. Officials at the Maryland-based Epilepsy Foundation issued a warning this week to their nearly 11,000 followers on Facebook, saying people prone to certain types of seizures might want to skip the film, which has been the top-grossing movie in the country for two weeks straight.

Diana J. Pillas, longtime coordinator-counselor of the Pediatric Epilepsy Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital who was known for the level of personal care and involvement she extended when working with patients and their families, died Saturday of breast cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care. She was 69 and had lived in Lutherville. Diana Jacqueline Pillas, the daughter of restaurateurs, was born in Baltimore and raised in the 5700 block of The Alameda. After graduating from Eastern High School in 1958, she earned a bachelor's degree in education in 1962 from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Grace Rolle remembers the crash and the silence that followed. "You've heard of a mother's intuition?" she asked recently. "I heard a loud noise, and it sounded like somebody fell. After about two minutes, I thought that it didn't sound right. When I went downstairs to the garage, the papers were strewn everywhere." Then she saw her son, Samari, on the ground, conscious but dazed. "His lip was busted, his tongue was messed up and his neck was swollen," she said. "They have sharp, concrete stairs.

SAN DIEGO -- Among the scowls that painted the Ravens' locker room, there was one player who managed a brief smile - cornerback Samari Rolle. Despite his part in the Ravens' 32-14 loss to San Diego, Rolle took satisfaction in showing he could play with epilepsy. Rolle, who disclosed last week that he has the neurological condition, played in his first game since suffering his third major seizure in the regular season Nov. 2. "Mentally I was fine; now, I've just got to get my body to catch up with my head," said Rolle, who was unaware of his condition before this season.

For eight weeks, Samari Rolle kept his condition a secret. "I didn't know if I could play, if I would be all right or anything," the Ravens veteran cornerback said. "It was very scary." But yesterday Rolle disclosed that he has epilepsy, a neurological condition that affects the nervous system and can cause seizures. He decided to publicly talk about his epilepsy "because it's under control now. Right now, I'm not scared." He has had three seizures this season, which have kept him out of six games.

Bonnie has a dream for her three daughters. The problem is paying for it. One daughter is a sophomore at a four-year state university. Another is a freshman at a community college. And the third is a senior in high school. But the single parent from Reisterstown says she's not just dealing with school costs. One daughter has epilepsy and the other two have learning disabilities. Medical bills eat up a big chunk of Bonnie's $70,000 annual income. And that's not factored in when it comes to financial aid, she says.

Fourth-grader Ashley Zaleski of Broadneck Elementary School has won the 1995 Epilepsy Prevention/Bicycle Poster Contest sponsored by the Epilepsy Association of Maryland.The theme of Ashley's poster is "Wheels and Helmets Go Together." She competed against 426 fourth-graders from 25 Maryland schools.Ashley will receive a bicycle helmet at a 9 a.m. ceremony Tuesday in her class. The association staff also will perform a Kids on the Block puppet show that explains epilepsy to children.The association has reproduced Ashley's poster into bookmarks and larger posters, which will be distributed to state legislators, schools and libraries.

In the 15 years she has battled epilepsy, Erinn Farver has tried countless medications and even explored the possibility of a brain operation. But the drugs have done little but make her sleepy, and her seizures are not the type that disappear with surgery.Now, she enters the new year hoping that the latest innovation in epilepsy therapy -- an electronic brain stimulater -- will make the difference. On Dec. 15, surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center made her the first patient in the state to receive the device, which looks like a hockey puck and is inserted in the chest just beneath the collarbone.

Lawrence M. Garten, a real estate attorney who was devoted to pro-bono work with the Abilities Network/Epilepsy Foundation of the Chesapeake Region, died of ampullary cancer, a rare form of the disease affecting the pancreas and intestine, Saturday at his home in Lutherville. He was 53. He was born in Baltimore and grew up in Ranchleigh and Stevenson. After graduating from the Park School in 1970, he earned a political science degree from Syracuse University in 1974. Mr. Garten came from a family of Baltimore attorneys.

Alison Marie Hylan, whose struggle with epilepsy and determination to have a normal life became an inspiration to others, died Sunday at Drexel University in Philadelphia after a seizure. She was 18. Miss Hylan, a freshman screenwriting student, was born in Annapolis. She was raised in Pasadena and Arnold, where she moved with her family in 2000. "She started writing as a child, and when she was older she'd enter poetry contests and get her things published," said her mother, Jan E. Hylan, a second-grade teacher at Richard Henry Lee Elementary School in Glen Burnie.