This article briefly outlines the proposed national epilepsy control program. The content of the article is based on four meetings held by invitation of the Ministry of Health. Invitees by ministry – Drs. D. C. Jain, M. Gourie Devi, V. Saxena, S. Jain, P. Satish. Chandra, M. Gupta, K. Bala, V. Puri, K. S. Anand, S. Gulati, S. Johri, P. S. Chandra, M. Behari, K. Radhakrishnan, D. Bachani. Presentations were made by Dr. M. Tripathi.The program will involve all neurologists across the country in teaching and training at state levels and a central monitoring committee.

Background: Seizure is one of the common causes of childhood hospitalization with significant mortality and morbidity. Current study is to find the etiology of seizure and classify seizure into various types and age groups presenting to tertiary center in Department of pediatrics VCSGGIMS and R Srinagar Pauri, Gharwal, Uttrakhand, India.Methods: This was a hospital based prospective study carried out from 1st Jan. 2014 to 31st Dec 2014. Variables collected were demographics, clinical presentations, laboratory tests, brain imaging studies, electroencephalography, diagnosis and hospital course.Results: A total of 276 patients were admitted for seizures with 172 (62.3%) males and 104 (37.7%) females. Among these patients, 148 (53.5%) presented with fever and 157 (56.8%) of children were less than 5 years of age. Generalized tonic-clonic seizure was the most common seizure type (69.2%) followed by partial (19.2%), absence (2.8%), myoclonus (1.6%) and others (6.9%). Seizure disorder (33.7%), febrile seizures (30%), CNS infections (meningitis 6.1%, encephalitis 6.5% and Tubercular meningitis 1.8%) and neurocysticercosis were other common etiologies. Abnormal brain images were noted in 55 (45.45%) out of 121 patients and most common abnormality was neurocysticercosis 33(12%).Conclusions: Acute episode of seizure is one of the causes for hospitalization. It can be concluded from present study that most of seizures caused by febrile seizures and CNS infections (meningitis and encephalitis, neurocysticercosis) can be managed better with prompt interventions. Children presenting with unprovoked seizure need prolonged follow up with neurophysiologic studies and neuroimaging (CT or MRI) for better understanding of childhood seizure.

Introduction:Neurologists in their clinical practice are faced with inquiries about the suitability of stem cell approaches by patients with a variety of acute and chronic (namely neurodegenerative) disorders. The challenge is to provide these patients with accurate information about the scope of stem cell use as well as at the same time, empowering patients with the capacity to make an autonomous decision regarding the use of stem cells.Methods:The Indian Academy of Neurology commissioned an Expert Group Meeting to formulate an advisory to practicing neurologists to counsel patients seeking information and advice about stem cell approaches.Results and Conclusions:In the course of such counselling, it should be emphasized that the information provided by many lay websites might be unsubstantiated. Besides, standard recommendations for the stem cell research, in particular, the application of several layers of oversight should be strictly adhered in order to ensure safety and ethical use of stem cells in neurological disorders.