About this episode

Dr. Colin Doherty discusses the role of inflammation and the blood-brain barrier in uncontrolled seizures and the potential of immunotherapies.

Could inflammation and the blood-brain barrier help explain why some seizures remain uncontrolled? Prof. Colin Doherty discusses emerging research into immune activity in epilepsy, how steroids may temporarily improve seizure control, and why future immunotherapies could help some people whose seizures do not respond to current treatments. Chapters 📖 00:00 Trailer & intro 00:31 Precision therapy for autoimmune diseases 01:27 Hypothesis: could steroids prevent seizures through mending the leakage of the Blood Brain Barrier? 03:53 Neurologists and researchers need to think about autoimmune 04:57 Blood Brain Barrier, steroids and genetics - current study 07:01 History: why haven’t we done this research already? 08:13 Immunologists: work with us! 09:48 Comparison: cancer and immunology 12:08 Clinicians and scientists: work with us! 13:51 People with an epilepsy and carers: work with us! 15:27 Closing thoughts & thanks 🔗 Episode page and transcript epilepsy-sparks-insights/autoimmune-therapy-blood-brain-barrier 🌐 More about Colin epilepsysparks.com/guests/colin-doherty 🌐 More Epilepsy Sparks Insights epilepsysparks.com/epilepsy-sparks-insights 🎥 Watch on YouTube…

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• The Brain Implant That May Do More Than Reduce Seizures: RNS - Dr. Vikram Rao · July 15, 2026 · 19 min
• Just a Few Brain Cells Can Cause Epilepsy: Mosaicism - Dr. Stéphanie Baulac · July 8, 2026 · 16 min
• Can Ketogenic Therapy Help More Than Seizures? - Dr. Manny Bagary · June 17, 2026 · 24 min
• Ketones Are Changing Your Brain - Epilepsy! - Dr. Manny Bagary · June 14, 2026 · 24 min

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