Sharp Waves: ILAE's epilepsy podcast

Send comments and feedback The latest on Dravet syndrome: Diagnosis, genetic testing, comorbidities, treatment, and more. Dr. Parthvi Ravat interviews Dr. Ingrid Scheffer. Sharp Waves episodes are meant for...

Send comments and feedback About one-third of people with epilepsy will continue having seizures despite medications. What is the clinical definition of drug-resistant epilepsy? Why does it occur, and is it possible to...

Send comments and feedback Nearly 1 in 4 people with epilepsy experiences depression, which affects quality of life, seizure control, and adherence to treatment. Depressive symptoms - including suicidality - are one of...

Send comments and feedback Is there a fast, simple way to measure whether someone with epilepsy is doing "better" or "worse" compared with a past clinic visit? Not really. Seizure count is often considered a standard...

Send comments and feedback Closing the epilepsy treatment gap relies heavily on social and cultural acceptance of epilepsy as a brain disorder that can be managed with medication or other therapies. Dr. Rugare Mugumbate...

Send comments and feedback Somatic genetic epilepsies arise from mutations that occur early in fetal development. They are usually only detectable by genetic sequencing of tissue. For these epilepsies, the timing of the...

Send comments and feedback In a retrospective study of 31 patients with highly refractory epilepsy, 29% had more than a 50% reduction in seizures for at least 12 months after being treated with immunotherapy. Three of...

Send comments and feedback What are variants of uncertain significance (VUS) in epilepsy genetic testing? How are they defined, and can those definitions change over time? Sharp Waves talks with Dr. Gemma Carvill as...

Send comments and feedback This episode covers a wide scope of issues, including treatment options, treatment response, prognosis and the role of seizures versus the underlying etiology, most common etiologies for...

Send comments and feedback In use since the 1970s, valproate is highly effective for genetic generalized epilepsies and some forms of pediatric epilepsy. The medication also is associated with a 10% risk of birth...

Send comments and feedback ILAE's updated seizure classification position paper was published in Epilepsia in April 2025. Sharp Waves talked with Dr. Sandor Beniczky about the updates and how they will impact research...

Send comments and feedback Seizures cost Stacia Kalinoski her career in broadcast journalism and forced her to give up running. In her new memoir, Kalinoski recounts her journey from first seizure in college to epilepsy...

Send comments and feedback Work-related stress and burnout are common in physicians, with rates of burnout estimated between 25% and 60%. These stresses impact physician health, patient care, and health care systems as...

Send comments and feedback Microglia can have protective and also potentially harmful effects in the brain. They seem to be involved in dampening the nervous system during acute seizures – but also appear to play a role...

Send comments and feedback Many of the most common concerns of people with epilepsy are topics they don't usually talk about with physicians. This is one of many findings of a study using AI to analyze more than 55,000...

Send comments and feedback Music can affect emotions, spark memories, and influence mood. In cases of musicogenic epilepsy, music can trigger seizures. In other cases, music may reduce seizure frequency. Dr. Cecilie...

Send comments and feedback In lower- and middle-income countries, raising awareness of genetic etiologies in epilepsy and genetic testing options may ultimately shift national priorities toward making genetic testing...

Send comments and feedback As a neurological emergency, status epilepticus (SE) requires timely diagnosis and treatment. A US study found that 10% of people with SE were not diagnosed by emergency services. Among those...

Send comments and feedback Folic acid supplementation is recommended for all women with epilepsy who may become pregnant. However, there is no agreed-upon dose for women with epilepsy taking antiseizure medication, and...

Send comments and feedback High-frequency oscillations (80 to 500 Hz) are being studied as biomarkers of epileptogenic areas in the brain, as well as markers to be used in epilepsy surgery. Dr. Cecilie Nome leads a...

Send comments and feedback There are potentially hundreds of "epilepsy genes" - but what is an epilepsy gene? How do researchers discover these genes and associate them with epilepsy? Sharp Waves spoke with Dr. Allan...

Send comments and feedback In the second episode of our genetics and epilepsy series, Sharp Waves explores how genetic insights can inform considerations and outcomes of epilepsy surgery. Dr. Alina Ivaniuk interviews...

Send comments and feedback This first episode in a multipart series on genetics in epilepsy covers the basics of genetic testing. Dr. Alina Ivaniuk interviews Dr. Ilona Krey, a physician and researcher at the Institute...

Send comments and feedback Christina Rezek and Brad Levy each have daughters who underwent epilepsy surgery, with dramatically different results. Sharp Waves talked with them about the journeys to and through epilepsy...

Send comments and feedback Sharp Waves spoke with a neurologist and a cardiologist who are part of a team researching the interactions among seizures, heart function, heart health, and SUDEP. Learn more about their...