Focus: Hidden - Texas

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While frozen wind turbines underperformed during the Texas power grid failure, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) around 29,000 megawatts of thermal energy — which is sourced from coal, gas and nuclear plants — were missing from the grid.

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On Tuesday in an interview on Fox News with Sean Hannity, Texas Governor Greg Abbott blamed the outages on wind turbines and on the "Green New Deal." Rolling blackouts have ravaged Texas after a winter storm created a sudden spike in energy demand and hamstrung production of natural gas, coal, nuclear, and wind energy.

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Based on 20 years of power grid research, professor Sid Suryanarayanan describes balancing supply and demand on the power grid and Texas's unique situation.

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Tras la reciente advertencia de seguridad emitida por la Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos de los Estados Unidos sobre la lamotrigina, un grupo de trabajo ad hoc ha elaborado un documento de revisión acerca de cómo minimizar los riesgos de seguridad.

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Following a recent safety warning issued by the US Food and Drug Administration on lamotrigine, a joint task force of the ILAE and American Epilepsy Society published an advisory for health care professionals that discusses how to minimize cardiac-related safety risks in patients taking lamotrigine.

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In much of Africa, epilepsy is believed to be caused by evil spirits or curses. Kenyan Fredrick Beuchi is trying to spread the word that epilepsy is a medical condition that can be treated. His latest project to raise awareness: Climb Africa's highest mountain.

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A recent one-year study found a 35% decrease in seizure frequency in people with epilepsy who listened to an excerpt of Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos. Research in animal models also suggests that music has multiple effects on the brain.

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Everyone loves to complain that their taxes are too high. Yet few people actually take the time to formally protest them. A recent deep-dive into property tax appeals in Texas offers new insights on what motivates people to protest or accept their tax obligations.

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More than 75 countries now have at least one ketogenic diet center for the treatment of epilepsy, but most centers are located in high-resource countries. How can lower-income countries establish the ketogenic diet, and what considerations are they facing?

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Treating epilepsy with diet is not a new concept, but it's gained popularity and credibility in the past 25 years.

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To help public health professionals and scientists better understand the spread of COVID-19 in Texas and the immune response it causes in individuals, researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) are partnering with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to launch the Texas Coronavirus Antibody Response Survey (Texas CARES). Texas CARES will determine the proportion of people throughout Texas who have COVID-19 antibodies, indicating a past infection and presumably some degree of immune protection.

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DALLAS, Sept. 2, 2020 – Less than three weeks after getting on an organ transplant list for HIV-positive patients, John Welch got the call. A liver was available from a deceased donor, and it was an excellent match.

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La telemedicina para el cuidado de la epilepsia es más popular que nunca. Tiene muchas ventajas, pero ¿Puede sostenerse en el futuro?

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This rare but life-threatening condition is often due to an autoimmune response. Speedier diagnosis and more effective treatments are priorities.

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The ILAE/IBE congresses attract clinicians, researchers, policymakers and advocates from around the world to hear about the latest research and treatment advances in epilepsy.

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Telemedicine for epilepsy care is more popular than ever. It has many advantages—but can it sustain itself into the future?

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It's been said that after two failed anti-seizure medications, chances for seizure freedom drop to less than 5%. This error arose nearly two decades ago and needs to be corrected, says a letter in the journal Epilepsia - chances are actually much higher.

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In the midst of the extraordinary health challenge presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, Baylor Scott & White Health remains committed to quality, safe care and helping Texas communities navigate the uncertainty of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Today, this commitment to safety and quality is recognized as U.S. News & World Report releases its 2020-2021 Best Hospitals list.

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A new COVID-19 tracking tool that can tell Texans what is happening in real time in their own communities and anticipate how one person can infect dozens more was recently launched by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

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More than 50 million people have epilepsy; about 80% live in lower- or middle-income countries, where diagnosis and treatment can be difficult or impossible. The percentage of people with epilepsy that is not receiving treatment is known as the treatment gap; in some countries, this gap exceeds 90%.

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How was epilepsy research forced to morph during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic? Researchers from 11 countries shared their experiences and thoughts on the future of laboratory research, clinical trials, and in-person conferences.

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Journal Prize winner Zhong Ying integrated genetics, clinical presentation, EEG, MRI, and histopathological diagnosis in a group of people with drug-resistant epilepsy. All had a specific type of brain lesion that can be difficult to identify.

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Journal Prize winner Ana Coito is developing methods to extract information from EEG readings about brain connectivity and information exchange. Her award-winning research focused on applying these methods to low-density EEG readings, which would make them accessible to more regions of the world.

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Journal Prize winner Jesse A. Pfammatter found that certain EEG patterns that indicate absence epilepsy may hold more information than previously thought.

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Journal prize winner Benjamin Tolchin tested motivational interviewing to help people with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) start and continue psychotherapy. Often mistaken for epilepsy, these seizures cause serious problems, yet many health care professionals discount them as "not real."

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Lyndsey Anderson traveled halfway around the world to do epilepsy research in Sydney, Australia. Recently, she was awarded ILAE's 2020 Epilepsia Prize for Basic Science Research.

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When seizures last longer than about 5 minutes--a condition called status epilepticus--emergency treatment is required. About two-thirds of people respond to initial treatment with benzodiazepines, but the others need a second drug. Which drug to choose is a matter of some debate.

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As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise in the U.S., a new free research app is hoping to slow the outbreak of the disease by tracking symptoms of millions across the country. To bring the app home to Texans, researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have joined the national research project led by Harvard University.

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A giant invasive hornet was sighted several times in northwestern Washington state and Canada in late 2019, causing concern across the U.S. At the request of Gov. Greg Abbott, a specialized task force led by Texas A&M AgriLife experts is spearheading an initiative to protect Texas citizens, agriculture and honey bees if the “murder hornet,” or Asian giant hornet, arrives.

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Seizure control is the primary driver of epilepsy treatment. For many people with epilepsy, however, the seizures themselves are secondary to what comes after: fatigue, memory loss and other issues that dramatically affect their lives.

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About 70% of people with epilepsy report post-seizure (post-ictal) complications, ranging from fatigue to memory issues to headache. Post-ictal psychosis while rare, is perhaps the most dramatic of these. As many as 7% of people with temporal lobe epilepsy develop PIP, which can cause suicidal behavior or interpersonal violence. The condition requires immediate attention and treatment.

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Areas within Texas’ major metropolitan cities where residents are at the greatest risk for hospitalization and critical care due to COVID-19 have been mapped for the first time by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

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Mexican women born and educated in Mexico who now live in Texas breastfeed longer than those born and educated in the United States. That’s the finding from new research from the Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP) at The University of Texas at Austin, which points to a “breastfeeding gap” among some Mexican-origin women living in Texas.

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What if there was a tool to help with faster, more accurate diagnosis of both psychogenic seizures and epilepsy? And what if this tool was simpler and less expensive than video EEG, and available almost everywhere?

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More than 10,000 uninsured patients sought care at Texas emergency departments for lifesaving kidney dialysis in 2017, incurring more than $21.8 million in hospital costs, according to researchers from UTHealth.

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In retrospect, Pakistan's effort to reduce the treatment gap can appear painstakingly planned, like the blueprints for a shopping complex or a neighborhood. But the secret of the country's success is not rooted in elaborate planning. Nor did it rely on generous funding or government support.

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At Epilepsy Awareness Day at Disneyland, thousands of families and physicians mix epilepsy education, information, and advocacy with enjoying a day at "the happiest place on earth."

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Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center Fort Worth and the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine will be collaborating on an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited physician resident training program that will eventually train more than 150 physicians annually. The collaboration will be a boon not only for the medical community in Fort Worth, but also for residents of North Texas as it helps to address a growing need for physicians in the Fort Worth area.

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Medication controls seizures in many people with epilepsy. The drugs are not a cure, but seizures don't always last a lifetime. After years without seizures, is it safe for some people to gradually come off their medications?

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Seven percent of Texas abortion patients in the study reported trying to self-manage abortion before coming to a clinic for services. Women cited cost and long distance to clinics as reasons for choosing to self-manage abortion.

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Beth H. Sutton, MD, FACS, was recently elected Chair of the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) during the College’s Clinical Congress 2019.

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With a little time, some information and a few questions, neurologists can help women with epilepsy make choices about birth control, folic acid supplements, and pregnancy.