Epilepsy After Febrile Seizures: Twins Suggest Genetic Influence.

Background: A history of complex febrile seizures can increase the risk of epilepsy, but the role of genetic factors is unclear. This analysis evaluated the relationship between febrile seizures and epilepsy.

Methods: Information on the history of seizures was obtained by a questionnaire from twin pairs in the Mid-Atlantic, Danish, and Norwegian Twin Registries.

The clinical course of DSM-5 alcohol use disorders in young adult native and Mexican Americans.

Background And Objectives: To determine if the clinical course of DSM-5 alcohol use disorders (AUD) in select populations of young adults (18-30 years) differed based on gender, diagnostic severity (mild, moderate, severe), and ethnicity.

Methods: Native Americans (NA) and Mexican Americans (MA) (n = 1,129) were recruited from the community and completed a structured diagnostic interview. Participants with DSM-5 AUDs were compared based on gender, severity of the disorder (mild, moderate, severe), and ethnicity for differences in drinking levels, as well as the clinical course of AUD as defined by the occurrence and sequence of 36 alcohol-related life events.

Importance of genetic factors in the occurrence of epilepsy syndrome type: a twin study.

Although there is strong evidence that genetic factors contribute to risk for epilepsy, their role in the determination of syndrome type is less clear. This study was undertaken to address this question. Information related to epilepsy was obtained from twins included in 455 monozygotic and 868 dizygotic pairs ascertained from population-based twin registries in Denmark, Norway and the United States.

Developing the evidence base for peer-led services: changes among participants following Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP) education in two statewide initiatives.

Objective: The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate the outcomes of two statewide initiatives in Vermont and Minnesota, in which self-management of mental illness was taught by peers to people in mental health recovery using Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP).

Methods: Pre-post comparisons were made of reports from 381 participants (147 in Vermont and 234 in Minnesota) on a survey instrument that assessed three dimensions of self-management: 1) attitudes, such as hope for recovery and responsibility for one's own wellness; 2) knowledge, regarding topics such as early warning signs of decompensation and symptom triggers; and 3) skills, such as identification of a social support network and use of wellness tools.

Results: Significant positive changes in self-management attitudes, skills and behaviors were observed on 76% of items completed by Vermont participants (13 of 17 survey items), and 85% of items completed by Minnesota participants (11 of 13 items).

The accuracy of self-reported history of seizures in Danish, Norwegian and U.S. twins.

Questionnaire surveys provide an efficient means of identifying potential seizure cases in large population-based cohorts. Concerns exist, however, with regard to the reliability of self-reported information both with respect to the validity of the results obtained and with regard to the usefulness of this approach in identifying true cases. Information on history of seizures obtained by questionnaire from members of 47,626 twin pairs included in the Mid-Atlantic (MATR), Danish (DTR) and Norwegian (NTR) Twin Registries was verified using medical records and detailed clinical and family interviews.

Factors associated with remission from alcohol dependence in an American Indian community group.

Objective: This study identified factors associated with remission from DSM-III-R alcohol dependence in an American Indian community group.

Method: Participants were assessed by using the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism.

Results: Five hundred eighty participants were assessed for alcohol use and alcohol use symptoms; 254 participants were found to have alcohol dependence.

Factors associated with remission from cannabis dependence in southwest California Indians.

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit substance in the United States, and rates of cannabis use disorders in some Native American samples have been reported to be higher than in the general U.S. population.

Heritability of illicit drug use and transition to dependence in Southwest California Indians.

Objective: Native Americans have high rates of drug use and dependence yet little is known concerning its etiology or clinical course. These analyses were conducted to describe the heritability of the use of a variety of illicit drugs, as well as the conditional probability of transitioning from use to dependence for each drug class in a community sample of Native American men and women.

Methods: The sample included 460 participants (190 men and 270 women), recruited through community effort, from eight contiguous Indian reservations in Southern California.

The feasibility of creating a population-based national twin registry in the United States.

Between 4 to 6 million twins exist in the US today who offer scientists a valuable potential resource for conducting behavioral and biomedical research. However, unlike many other countries, there is no national system in the US for identifying twins and eliciting their participation in these important research programs. Therefore, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is conducting a study to determine the feasibility of creating a national, population-based twin registry in the US.

Co-morbidity of select anxiety, affective, and psychotic disorders with cannabis dependence in Southwest California Indians.

Cannabis dependence is co-morbid with psychiatric disorders in general population surveys, but whether co-morbidity exists in American Indian populations is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess co-morbidity between cannabis dependence and psychiatric disorders in a community sample of Southwest California (SWC) Indians. Demographic information and DSMIII- R diagnoses, including differentiation of independent and cannabis-induced psychiatric disorders, were obtained using the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) developed for the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) from 513 SWC Indian adults residing on contiguous reservations.

Analyzing the etiology of benign rolandic epilepsy: a multicenter twin collaboration.

Purpose: Benign rolandic epilepsy (BRE) is considered a genetically determined idiopathic partial epilepsy. We analyzed a large sample of twins from four international twin registers to probe the genetics of BRE. We also aim to synthesize the apparently conflicting family and twin data into a model of BRE etiology.

Genetic factors in seizures: a population-based study of 47,626 US, Norwegian and Danish twin pairs.

The purpose of the study was to describe a large sample of twins reporting a history of seizures, to characterize seizures in the three subpopulations, and to estimate the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors in seizure occurrence. Seizure history was determined by questionnaires completed by twins in population-based twin registries in the United States, Norway and Denmark. Concordance rates were calculated for all seizure categories within and across twin populations.

Which seizure-precipitating factors do patients with epilepsy most frequently report?

When treating patients with epilepsy, dealing with seizure-precipitating factors is a partly neglected and underestimated supplement to more traditional therapies. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of seizure precipitants in a large epilepsy population and to determine which precipitants patients most often reported. Study participants included twins and their family members ascertained from the Norwegian Twin Panel (NTP), the Danish Twin Registry (DTR), and the Mid-Atlantic Twin Registry (MATR).

Status epilepticus in a population-based Virginia twin sample.

Purpose: To characterize status epilepticus (SE) and estimate its frequency of first occurrence, as well as to assess the contribution of genetic factors to risk of SE occurrence in a sample of Virginia-born twins ascertained from the population-based Mid-Atlantic Twin Registry.

Methods: The occurrence of SE was determined in 13,506 unselected Virginia-born twin pairs ascertained from birth records. Twins included in the study were between ages 2 and 75 years when surveyed.

The role of the children of twins design in elucidating causal relations between parent characteristics and child outcomes.

Background: Determination of causal connections between parental measures and child outcomes using typical samples is limited by the inability to account for all confounds, both environmental and genetic. This paper discusses the strength of the Children of Twins (COT) design to highlight the role of specific environments.

Methods: A new analytical model is presented which helps differentiate and quantify the environmental and genetic processes underlying associations between family-level risk factors and child adjustment.

Epileptic seizures and syndromes in twins: the importance of genetic factors.

The role of genetic factors in the occurrence of epilepsy syndromes was studied in twins recruited from the population-based Danish Twin Registry. A total of 34,076 twins were screened for epilepsy. Cases were confirmed and classified by two neurologists according to the classification systems of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE).

The Mid-Atlantic Twin Registry.

The Mid-Atlantic Twin Registry (MATR) is a population-based registry of twin pairs ascertained from birth records and school system records of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The MATR was formed in 1997 with the merging of the Virginia and North Carolina Twin Registries, and it expanded to include South Carolina when access to twin birth records in that state was granted in 1998. Registered twins ("participants") number more than 51,000, with approximately 46,000 of these individuals representing complete pairs.