Sharp Waves: ILAE's epilepsy podcast
Epilepsy affects more than 50 million people. Every day. Sharp Waves brings you stories about people with epilepsy, physicians treating epilepsy, and researchers studying the condition. We'll cover the latest research, challenges to diagnosis and treatment, and issues from around the world.
Episodes
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 surgery years later, describing her seizures, struggles with medication, and challenges coming to terms with her epilepsy.
Kalinoski's book, Racing Uphill, is available July 1, 2025 and can be ordered or pre-orde...
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 a whole. Sharp Waves spoke with Dr. Sheryl Haut about strategies to identify work stress and mitigate burnout.
Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.
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 in neuronal loss and cortical thinning. Dr. Cecilie Nome spoke with Dr. Amy Brewster about the many faces of microglia and the current understanding of their role in epilepsy and seizures.
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 posts about epilepsy on Reddit. Sharp Waves spoke with the study's first author and two epilepsy advocates about the results and how they could help initiate important patient-provider conversations.
PLEASE ...
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 Nome talks with Dr. Phillip Pearl and Prof. Nigel Osborne about the power of music and its effects on the brain.
Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.
Links:
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 part of the standard of care. Dr. Parthvi Ravat spoke with Dr. Jo Wilmshurst and Dr. Alina Esterhuizen about initiatives to increase awareness of genetics and genetic testing in epilepsy, including a decision tree model...
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 who were diagnosed in an ambulance, 20% did not receive any first-line treatment, while others received lower-than-recommended doses. Sharp Waves spoke to senior author Dr. Elan Guterman about the study.
Sharp Waves ep...
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 there may be risks of high-dose (>1 mg/day) folic acid supplementation. Dr. Bruna Nucera spoke with Dr. Marte Helene Bjørk about the risks and benefits of folic acid supplementation and what this means for pregnant...
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 discussion about clinical research on HFOs and areas of uncertainty, as well as the importance of basic research in helping to understand this phenomenon.
Publications mentioned during the episode:
Roehri Eng N, et al. Hig...
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 Bayat, a pediatric neurologist in Denmark focused on rare monogenic neurodevelopmental disorders and epilepsy.
Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical adv...
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 Dr. Patrick Moloney, currently an epilepsy genomics fellow at the Chalfont Center for Epilepsy at University College London.
Selected publications:
Do germline genetic variants influence surgical outcomes i...
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 of Human Genetics at Leipzig University Medical Center.
Sharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.
Let us know how we're doing: podcast@ilae.or...
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 surgery, the consequences, and what they have learned.
Brad Levy is a founder of Epilepsy Awareness Day at Disneyland, a free event held every November in Anaheim, California, USA. Visit epilepsyawarenessday.o...
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 research.
Selected publications from Drs. Lin & Fialho and colleagues:
Determining factors of electrocardiographic abnormalities in patients with epilepsy: A case-control study (2017, Epilepsy R...
In this episode, we explore the science behind exercise as an adjunct treatment for epilepsy and debunk some common myths (spoiler alert: With very rare exceptions, exercise does NOT increase seizure risk). Dr. Ayushe Sharma talked with Dr. Jane Allendorfer, Dr. Halley Alexander, and Brian Wiedmeyer, who participated in an exercise research study.
The episode refers to a 2016 report by the ILAE Ta...
A recent practice guideline provides updated evidence-based conclusions and recommendations regarding in utero effects of anti-seizure medications and folic acid supplementation on the prevalence of major congenital malformations, adverse perinatal outcomes, and neurodevelopmental outcomes. Dr. Parthvi Ravat interviewed Dr. Alison Pack about the guideline, which was produced by the American Academy of Neur...
Some historic names for epilepsy have been derogatory and stigmatizing. An older term for “epilepsy” in Malay means “mad pig disease.” Neurologists in Malaysia collaborated to change the word to a medically accurate term. Sharp Waves spoke with Dr. Chong Tin Tan about the origins of the older term and how the new term was introduced.
Resources:
Name of epilepsy: Does it matter? - 2012 - Neurology Asia
With all the best intentions, undertakings in global neurology can include assumptions and biases that lead to unforeseen negative consequences. Sharp Waves spoke with Drs. Melody Asukile and Deanna Saylor about their recent article on the perils and pitfalls of global neurology. They discussed specific examples of some of these unforeseen consequences and talked about the ingredients for productive, ethic...
Some people with epilepsy also experience memory and learning issues, as well as depression or anxiety. A small study in Australia screened people for these conditions at a first seizure clinic before any anti-seizure medications had been prescribed. Compared with a control group, the people at the first seizure clinic had higher rates of all of these cognitive and neuropsychological issues.
The s...
Juhn Atsushi Wada was a Japanese–Canadian neurologist known for research on epilepsy and human brain asymmetry, including his description of the Wada test to assess cerebral hemispheric dominance of language function. The Wada test is the gold standard for establishing cerebral dominance and is conducted worldwide prior to epilepsy surgery. He became a pioneer in the utilization of the kindling model of ep...
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