Epilepsy Sparks

31/05/2026

📄 Do check out the paper (link below) about Acute Symptomatic Seizures by our podcast guest Dr. Clio Rubinos 🤩! Clio spoke of the same topic on our podcast called "Understanding Acute Symptomatic Seizures: A Deep Dive" which you can watch here!👇
https://youtu.be/YWhzCOIdbTc

Note, a comment on Clio's episode was "Dr. Rubinos is the kind of neurologist we would all be fortunate to have caring for us" 🥰

Paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1525505026002398?dgcid=author

What are Acute Symptomatic Seizures, how do they differ from epileptic seizures, and how can one recover? Who will develop an epilepsy after one and what are...

28/05/2026

Our podcast guest Dr. Marian Galovic 🤩 has won the ILAE - International League Against Epilepsy Young Investigator Award! 👏 Congratulations to him! Hear Marian's cool episode "Is Epilepsy Ageing the Brain Faster?" here! 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GAayQVGuD4

After listening to the episode you won't be surprised at the award!

Accelerated brain ageing is increasingly understood as part of epilepsy. Dr. Marian Galovic explains what brain imaging shows about neurodegeneration, why se...

28/05/2026

🤔 What's happening to a person's brain before any seizures start? How does this affect their lives? Are they having seizures without knowing they are?! Find out more in this week's podcast - now out! With lead neurologist and epileptologist Dr. Jacob Pellenin! Jacob talks about:

- Later diagnosis & The Human Epilepsy Project
- Anticipating seizure onset
- Improving recognition of seizure symptoms
- Problems with learning
- Different amounts of brain tissue
- delays in diagnosis
- Future studies

Tune in on Epilepsy Sparks Insights: 🎬 https://youtu.be/ucsaSGEmLxE

28/05/2026

🫨 Loads of people are having epileptic seizures but they just aren't recognised! Not the generalised ones where one might go stiff, rigid, and shake, or absence seizures. Or focal - both full awareness seizures or even lack of awarness - if people don't know what seizures are/can be, then....!

Learn more in today's fascinating podcast with Neurologist & Epileptologist Dr. Jacob Pellinen from UCHealth 🇺🇸! 👇

🎬 YouTube https://youtu.be/ucsaSGEmLxE

28/05/2026

📆 Epilepsy can be going on for years before it's diagnosed! This even happened to our host, Torie Robinson!

In this week's Epilepsy Sparks Insights podcast 🎬, Dr. Jacob Pellinen 🤩🇺🇸 shares how children can be experiencing focal seizures, but if:

- the child doesn't tell anyone about the feeling;
- no one else notices/they don't recognise it as anything medical
..then there's no referral to a clinician and no diagnosis!

Check out the full episode to hear about all this and some other fascinating outcomes of the Human Epilepsy Project 👇!

🎬 https://youtu.be/ucsaSGEmLxE

27/05/2026

😳 Depression and anxiety can onset BEFORE seizures do!

In this week's Epilepsy Sparks Insights podcast 🎬 (it's a reshare from 3 years ago as it was so popular!), Dr. Jacob Pellinen 🤩 shares with us his research from the "Human Epilepsy Project"; exploring how epilepsy may involve much earlier brain changes than many people realise - including learning difficulties, mood symptoms, and subtle focal seizures that can go unnoticed for YEARS!!

This is a really important thing for us to think about - whether you be a clinician, researcher, someone with an epilepsy - or even caregiver!

It's out tomorrow - subscribe for notifications 👇!!

🎬 www.youtube.com/

22/05/2026

Epilepsy can be caused by bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections! See examples:

- bacterial (e.g. meningitis, brain abscess)
- viral (e.g. herpes simplex virus, HIV)
- fungal (e.g. Cryptococcus (fungal meningitis), Aspergillus)
- parasitic infestation (e.g. neurocysticercosis, taxoplasmosis)

Ref: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4867498/

21/05/2026

The brain abnormality that causes the seizures is what also can cause a memory problem!* 😶‍🌫️🧠

Thr brain is so complex- it's not just affected by meds, sleep, drugs - but the root cause of the seizure

Despite this, there still work that can be done to improve memory* - with the help of a clinician who specialises in this.

May we introduce this week's Epilepsy Sparks Insights 🎬🎙️ guest Dr Laurie Miller Miller 🇦🇺 who specialises in this and gives us the lowdown! Watch here 👇!

🎬 https://youtu.be/vKddV_pUXEY



*in many

21/05/2026

Do you have problems with your memory? 😩What if you could actually improve it? Literally!

People with an epilepsy are far more likely to have memory problems. Even if they have controlled seizures! ❌⚡️Why could this be?

Often medications are blamed - and in some cases this is fair. It can also be the mental health issues and sleep disorders (that often accompany epilepsy) that are responsible.

But very often it's the pathology of the disease. It's what's causing the epilepsy that causes the memory problems! 🧠🥴

How do we address things if the cause is the brain tissue, neural activity, genetics, etc., itself?

Hear all about it from this week's Epilepsy Sparks Insights guest, neuropsychologist Dr. Laurie Miller 🤩🇦🇺, right here 👇!

🎬 https://youtu.be/vKddV_pUXEY

21/05/2026

🤯 What causes memory problems in people with an epilepsy?

Well, common causes are:

〰️ seizures ✔️
〰️ mental health illnesses ✔️
〰️ sleep disorders ✔️
〰️ some medications ✔️

What else?? Well so much can be down to the CAUSE of the ! Those including:

〰️ structural (e.g. hippocampal sclerosis) 🧠
〰️ genetic (e.g. Dravet, CDKL5) 🧬
〰️ autoimmune (e.g. autoimmune encephalitis) 🛡️
〰️ metabolic (e.g. GLUT1, mitochondrial diseases) ⚡
〰️ infectious (bacterial, viral, fungal, parasitic) 🦠

On this week's Epilepsy Sparks Insights podcast 🎬, our guest, neuropsychologist Dr Laurie Miller 🤩 🇦🇺 shares how despite epilepsy and its causes, memory can often be improved through specialist training and practice! This can help people cope much better in life, day to day.

To be honest, the techniques can also help those without an epilepsy!

Tune in here 👇!

🎬 https://youtu.be/vKddV_pUXEY