Blog

I was diagnosed with LGI1 Autoimmune Encephalitis (AE) in February 2018. Encephalitis is a devastating brain disease that affects about 500,000 people worldwide.  The type that I have is called LGI1 Autoimmune Encephalitis – it is extremely rare and known to affect about 0.83 people in a million. With Autoimmune Encephalitis the body starts to […]

I am an autoimmune neurologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City who cares for children and adults with encephalitis. My interest in this field stems from the first patient I saw on my first day of neurology training. He was a three-year-old boy who presented with changes in […]

For World Encephalitis Day 2019, Dr. Irani talks about his work and research and how he sees the field of AE evolving. Dr. Sarosh Irani is an Associate Professor, Honorary Consultant Neurologist and Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellow with clinical and laboratory interests in the field of autoantibody-mediated diseases of the central nervous system. He sees […]

For World Encephalitis Day 2019, Dr. Muscal talks about his work and research and how he sees the field of AE evolving. Dr. Eyal Muscal is a pediatric rheumatologist at Texas Children’s Hospital with a MS Degree in Clinical Research whose activities include patient care, fellowship education, quality improvement, and clinical research. He is the Childhood […]

For World Encephalitis Day 2019, Dr. Gallentine talks about his work and research and how he sees the field of AE evolving. Dr. William Gallentine is a pediatric neuroligst at Stanford University in Palo Alto CA. His research interests focus on the role of inflammation and genetics in the development of epilepsy, and the overlap between […]

It has become apparent over the course of time in studies of autoimmune encephalitis that unfortunately some patients go on to develop epilepsy. It is a minority, but occurs in a significant percentage of patients. A new publication just out from two centers in Rome, Italy reported results from a retrospective study conducted on adult […]

Just a reminder to let you know that the AE Family weekend is coming up in about four weeks on March 2 in Durham, NC. Meet other families going through similar challenges. Share stories and learn about the latest treatments and discover strategies to make every day better. HAVE FUN AND GET ACTIVE with our annual […]

Late last year a systematic review of AE syndromes, diagnosis, and treatment was published in Frontiers in Neurology by two physicians in Austria, and reviewed by physicians in Australia and the US (Mayo Clinic). We felt it may be useful as an up-to-date reference. Once again, the importance of early recognition of AE with prompt […]

A group of physicians from Germany have recently published an article in Seminars in Immunopathology, noting significant differences in the incidence of autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system in males versus females. They stated diseases such as multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica and autoimmune encephalitis are more likely to be found in females. Some examples […]

World Encephalitis Day is the global awareness day for people who have been directly or indirectly affected by encephalitis. Founded by The Encephalitis Society in the UK in 2014, it is held on February 22 each year and has reached over 80 million people in the past five years. The color associated with this day […]