Decoding Dravet Blog

With so many clinical trials for Dravet syndrome actively enrolling, it is an important time to consider the impacts that talking about experiences in an ongoing trial can have on the outcomes. If you are participating in a clinical trial and observing particularly profound changes following treatment, it can be quite tempting to share that […]

As we roll into 2021, I wanted to remind our community of the many important resources that DSF offers to help patient families on this complex medical journey. We recognize that you deal with a lot each day and DSF is here to help. Brief overviews on each program can be found below or you

On January 5-7, 2021, the NIH/NINDS (National Institute of Health/ National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) held the“Curing the Epilepsies 2021: Setting Research Priorities” conference in a virtual format. The goal of the conference was to guide updates to the current Epilepsy Research Benchmarks and Transformative Research Priorities with collaborative feedback from all the

Wow – what a year! I think we can all agree that 2020 was hard. Even for our community that is accustomed to constantly having to adapt and change plans, as well as go through periods of social isolation for the health and well-being of our loved ones, 2020 presented challenges that none of us

Let everything happen to you Beauty and terror Just keep going No feeling is final                                                      -Rainer Rilke How would you feel if your son called you in the middle

Serotonin (5-HT) signaling has been a major focus of drug development targeting seizures in Dravet syndrome (DS) in recent years. For example, the community recently saw the FDA-approval of Fintepla (fenfluramine) as an adjunctive (add-on) therapy for DS. Fenfluramine had been a known anti-epileptic agent since the 1980’s, particularly utilized in Europe, but its marketing

I often reflect on the amount of time spent traveling to and from the numerous doctor and therapy appointments with my son over the years. Negotiating my work schedule, coordinating school and therapy schedules, packing medical equipment and medicines, loading my son and his wheelchair into the car, making the sometimes-long drives to the clinic,

Original Post:  March 13, 2020 Updated:  April 9, 2020 Dravet Syndrome Foundation (DSF) has updated these FAQs from our good friends and collaborators at the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance to address concerns from the Dravet) community and healthcare professionals regarding the COVID-19 outbreak. For more comprehensive and up-to-date information refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. SYMPTOMS

It is not uncommon in a rare disease like Dravet syndrome (DS) to have a physician prescribe a medication for “off-label” use by their patient. This means that the drug is not being used in the manner specified in the FDA’s approved package labeling and is being used for a disease that it is not

The International Classification of Disease (ICD) is a list first introduced in 1948 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is coordinated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is a system used by healthcare providers to classify and code diagnoses, symptoms, and