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Along with the other changes that the fall brings, I am
stepping down as editor-in-chief of professionals.epilepsy.com
at the end of this month as I prepare to become the next President of
the American Epilepsy Society in December.
Being
editor-in-chief of this wonderful website over the past number of years
has been a fantastic experience for me, and I am very grateful for the
support, advice and collaboration of the Epilepsy Therapy Project,
Warren Lammert, Joyce Cramer, Bill Braunlich, Orrin Devinsky, Kim
Macher, Karen Dredske, Patty Shafer, Rita Watson, Jenna Martin, Jacki
Gordon, May Liang, our many contributors, our editorial board,
Zoomedia, and many, many others.
I am pleased to announce that
Dr. Robert Fisher, Professor of Neurology & Neurosciences at
Stanford University will be the next editor-in-chief of professionals.epilepsy.com.
Bob is an old friend and colleague, and a fellow musician. He directs
the Epilepsy Center at Stanford University. He served as
editor-in-chief of Epilepsia, President of the American
Epilepsy Society and as a member of the Executive Committee of the
International League Against Epilepsy. He is a distinguished researcher
in the area of new epilepsy treatments and frequent contributor to epilepsy.com
, including the international AED database and numerous
educational videos. He will introduce himself and his ideas for professionals.epilepsy.com
at greater length in next month’s newsletter. Bob will be a fantastic
editor-in-chief and I am confident that under his leadership, professionals.epilepsy.com
will continue to develop into the best possible website for you, your
colleagues, and your patients.
One of the best things about professionals.epilepsy.com
is that it is provided for free by the Epilepsy Therapy Project. If you
have been helped in your practice by professionals.epilepsy.com,
please consider expressing your thanks by contributing to the Epilepsy
Therapy Project in support of its mission to develop new epilepsy
treatments. It's simple, and no gift is too small! Just go to http://www.firstgiving.com/joycecramer-etp, click
on “GIVE NOW”, and you’ll be on your way to making life better for
patients with epilepsy.
- As reported by CNN,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released the
results of a major new study about epilepsy. I was pleased to be a part
of this important project, which emphasized the difficulty that people
with epilepsy have in accessing high-quality care. For information on
indicators of quality of care for patients with epilepsy, go to: http://professionals.epilepsy.com/page/care_quality_measures.html.
- This month we are pleased to present three more
full-length articles from the journal Epilepsy & Behavior:
- Joyce
Cramer, President of the Epilepsy Therapy Project, discusses the
process of finding new epilepsy treatments and brings us news about
retigabine, a new medication on the horizon.
Highlights for your patients:
- On August 14th, we hit the internet airwaves with our
first Epilepsy Therapy Project BlogTalkRadio show, called Epilepsy
Talk Radio. Dr. Andres Kanner talked with Resource Specialist Patty
Shafer on the topic of "Epilepsy and Its Treatment: Talking about Depression
and Suicidality."
Our next show will be Tuesday, September 16 at 8 PM Eastern Time. I
will talk with Dr. Daniel Lowenstein, Professor and Vice-Chairman of
the UCSF Department of Neurology about the largest research study ever
created to understand how genetics influences epilepsy – the Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project. Please join us
and recommend the show to your patients! It's as simple as going to the
epilepsy.com homepage and clicking
on the link for the show or going to our Epilepsy Talk Radio page.
After
that show, plan to join host Patty Shafer and guest Dr. Eric Kossoff,
Assistant Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins
University, September 24 at 9 PM Eastern Time to talk about the
ketogenic diet, the low glycemic index diet and the modified Atkins
diet. Dr. Kossoff is the editor of KetoNews on epilepsy.com and
an internationally regarded expert on dietary therapies for epilepsy.
- Dr. Eric Kossoff, editor of epilepsy.com’s KetoNews, writes this month about a remarkable
young girl named Grace, and the Magic Diet booklet that Grace and her family
composed and illustrated.
- While we're on the topic of the ketogenic diet, we've
made it easier for you to find doctors who prescribe this diet.
- Now that schools are back in session, parents and
caregivers have many concerns about school-aged children with epilepsy.
Here’s a guide for teachers and parents, advice on
teasing and how to tell others what they need to know, and information
about home schooling and charter schools.
With my best wishes,
Steven C. Schachter, MD
Editor-in-Chief
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR 
Upcoming epilepsy-related conferences, symposia, and
events include:
Sept 21-Sept 25, 2008
8th
European Congress on Epileptology
Berlin, Germany
Oct 15-Oct 17, 2008
11th European Conference on Epilepsy and Society (IBE)
Marseille, France
Oct 22-Oct 26, 2008
Asian Oceanian Congress of Neurology (AOCN 2008) &
16th Annual Conference of the Indian Academy of Neurology (IANCON 2008)
New Delhi, India
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