Australian
Headlines - National Epilepsy Magazine
[Return to Research
Index]
[Return to Main
Index]
Call for Participants in
New Research
July 2004
Research leads to not only improved treatment methods, but better public policy, community education, more effective resource allocation and more accurate guidance to enhance the overall quality of for people affected by seizure disorders. The different research perspectives help to provide a complete picture. These include:
Clinical studies dealing with medical aspects of epilepsy; sociological studies dealing with social interactions (in the workplace, within the family and society generally); psychological studies; epidemiological studies dealing with the distribution of epilepsy in the population, examining questions of the who?, where? and how many? variety. Here are some current programs welcoming volunteers...
Pilot study results indicate that some people on anti-epileptic medication (AED) may be at risk of reduced bone mineral density. Further research into the effect of AEDs on bone density and osteoporosis is underway. Female twins and sisters within 3 years of each other in age meeting the criteria are invited to participate.
Dr Sandra Petty at the University of Melbourne, The Royal Melbourne Hospital campus is pleased to be working with Prof Sambrook’s group at the Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney.
Participant criteria: One of each twin or sister pair must be taking medication for epilepsy as prescribed for a clinically indicated reason. The other must have no history of requiring these medications.
The research involves completing confidential surveys regarding your health, nutrition, exercise, sun exposure and epilepsy history. Each pair of twins or sisters will have a balance test, blood and urine tests, and a bone mineral densitometry scan (DXA) on enrolment and again 2 years later to measure your bone density.
If you and your twin or sister would like
to participate please call:
Dr. Petty or Lynda Paton (Melbourne, sisters or twins)
The
Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Adelaide), Neurology Dept will soon conduct two
clinical trials for epilepsy patients with partial seizures. If you have four or
more partial seizures per month and are on one, two or three Anti Epileptic
Drugs, and you are interested,
then please contact Esther Lam on 08
8222 6000 (pager 3471)
Monday to Friday.
This research looks at the
effects of living with a child with autism or a chronic illness, on that
child’s siblings.
It is being conducted by
Kathryn Wakely to meet the requirements for the BScPsych (Hons) under the
supervision of Dr Andrew Baillie (Psychology Department,
The researchers would greatly
appreciate your help. Only one parent is needed to participate, families must
include at least two children, only one of which has a chronic illness or
autism.
Parents will be requested to
fill in a survey about their child’s behavior and quality of life which can be
delivered via mail. It is expected to take approximately 30 minutes.
If interested please contact Kathryn on 0421
082 647 or kathryn_wakely@hotmail.com
or Andrew Baillie on 02 9850 9436, andrew.baillie@mq.edu.au.
Click
here for further details
This register for women on AEDs is part of a world study to help determine the incidence of birth defects in women who become pregnant while taking an AED. To enrol, please call 1800 069 722