Researchers say they have identified a genetic cause for epilepsy. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, describes a mutated gene that causes an epileptic disorder in Old Order Amish children in Pennsylvania. The mutation can be traced to abnormalities of the brain structure or chemistry that alter the electrical activity in nerve cells. Researchers hope to develop drugs to prevent the disease by changing the way the brain reacts to the broken gene.

The drug gabapentin, originally approved by the FDA in 1994 to treat epileptic seizures and in 2002 to treat postherpetic neuralgia, may now bring relief to postmenopausal women who experience hot flashes. A soon to be published study conducted by Dr. Sireesha Y. Reddy at the Jacobs Neurological Institute found that gabapentin was as effective as estrogen in controlling hot flashes, with only minor side effects. The drug also does not interact with other medications as it is not metabolized and is fully excreted in the urine.

Each year, more than 2 million people in the U.S. acquire an infection during a hospital stay, and an estimated 90,000 people die from them -more than AIDS, breast cancer and auto accidents combined. Many hospital-acquired infections can no longer be treated with traditional antibiotics, but experts say these infections are almost always preventable.

A team of London researchers found those who had suffered either respiratory or urinary infections were nearly twice as likely to develop blood clots two weeks later. The report, published in the journal Lancet, suggests the clots could be caused by inflammation in the blood vessel linked with infection and occur in the leg veins but can also break off and lodge in the small vessels in the lung, creating a potentially fatal pulmonary embolism.

In a large medical study, researchers found that having people pray for heart bypass surgery patients had no effect on their recovery and in fact, patients who knew they were being prayed for had a slightly higher rate of complications. Critics said the question of God's reaction to prayer simply couldn't be explored by scientific study, while researchers emphasize that their work can't address whether God exists or answers prayers made on another's behalf.