Dravet syndrome is a severe form of epilepsy. It is a rare genetic disorder that affects an estimated 1 in every 20,000–40,000 births.

Dravet syndrome, also known as severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (SMEI), is a type of epilepsy with seizures that are often triggered by hot temperatures or fever. It is treated with anticonvulsant medications. It often begins around six months of age.

Cases of epilepsy may be organized into epilepsy syndromes by the specific features that are present. These features include the age at which seizures begin, the seizure types, and EEG findings, among others. Identifying an epilepsy syndrome is useful as it helps determine the underlying causes as well as what anti-seizure medication should be tried.

The ability to categorize a case of epilepsy into a specific syndrome occurs more often with children since the onset of seizures is commonly early. Less serious examples are benign rolandic epilepsy (2.8 per 100,000), childhood absence epilepsy (0.8 per 100,000) and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (0.7 per 100,000). Severe syndromes with diffuse brain dysfunction caused, at least partly, by some aspect of epilepsy, are also referred to as epileptic encephalopathies. These are associated with frequent seizures that are resistant to treatment and severe cognitive dysfunction, for instance Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and West syndrome.

Epilepsies with onset in childhood are a complex group of diseases with a variety of causes and characteristics. Some people have no obvious underlying neurological problems or metabolic disturbances. They may be associated with variable degrees of intellectual disability, elements of autism, other mental disorders, and motor difficulties. Others have underlying inherited metabolic diseases, chromosomal abnormalities, specific eye, skin and nervous system features, or malformations of cortical development. Some of these epilepsies can be categorized into the traditional epilepsy syndromes. Furthermore, a variety of clinical syndromes exist of which the main feature is not epilepsy but which are associated with a higher risk of epilepsy. For instance between 1 and 10% of those with Down syndrome and 90% of those with Angelman syndrome have epilepsy.

In general, genetics is believed to play an important role in epilepsies by a number of mechanisms. Simple and complex modes of inheritance have been identified for some of them. However, extensive screening has failed to identify many single rare gene variants of large effect. In the epileptic encephalopathies, de novo mutagenesis appear to be an important mechanism. De novo means that a child is affected, but the parents do not have the mutation. De novo mutations occur in eggs and sperms or at a very early stage of embryonic development. In Dravet syndrome a single affected gene was identified.

Syndromes in which causes are not clearly identified are difficult to match with categories of the current classification of epilepsy. Categorization for these cases is made somewhat arbitrarily. The "idiopathic" (unknown cause) category of the 2011 classification includes syndromes in which the general clinical features and/or age specificity strongly point to a presumed genetic cause. Some childhood epilepsy syndromes are included in the unknown cause category in which the cause is presumed genetic, for instance benign rolandic epilepsy. Others are included in "symptomatic" despite a presumed genetic cause (in at least in some cases), for instance Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Clinical syndromes in which epilepsy is not the main feature (e.g. Angelman syndrome) were categorized "symptomatic" but it was argued to include these within the category "idiopathic". Classification of epilepsies and particularly of epilepsy syndromes will change with advances in research.

West syndrome is a triad of developmental delay, seizures termed infantile spasms, and EEG demonstrating a pattern termed hypsarrhythmia. Onset occurs between three months and two years, with peak onset between eight and 9 months. West syndrome may arise from idiopathic, symptomatic, or cryptogenic causes. The most common cause is tuberous sclerosis. The prognosis varies with the underlying cause. In general, most surviving patients remain with significant cognitive impairment and continuing seizures and may evolve to another eponymic syndrome, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. It can be classified as idiopathic, syndromic, or cryptogenic depending on cause and can arise from both focal or generalized epileptic lesions.

Individuals with GEFS+ present with a range of epilepsy phenotypes. These include febrile seizures that end by age 6 (FS), such seizures extending beyond age 6 that may include afebrile tonic-clonic, myoclonic, absence, atonic seizures and myoclonic-astatic epilepsy. Individuals may also present with SMEI, characterized by generally tonic-clonic seizures, impaired psychomotor development, myoclonic seizures, ataxia, and poor response to many anticonvulsants.

Generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) is a syndromic autosomal dominant disorder where afflicted individuals can exhibit numerous epilepsy phenotypes. GEFS+ can persist beyond early childhood (i.e., 6 years of age). GEFS+ is also now believed to encompass three other epilepsy disorders: severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (SMEI), which is also known as Dravet's syndrome, borderline SMEI (SMEB), and intractable epilepsy of childhood (IEC). There are at least six types of GEFS+, delineated by their causative gene. Known causative genes are the sodium channel α subunit genes SCN1A, an associated β subunit SCN1B, and a GABA receptor γ subunit gene, GABRG2 and there is another gene related with calcium channel the PCDH19 which is also known as Epilepsy Female with Mental Retardation. Penetrance for this disorder is estimated at approximately 60%.

Hemodynamic impairment is thought to be the cause of deep watershed infarcts, characterized by a rosary-like pattern. However new studies have shown that microembolism might also contribute to the development of deep watershed infarcts. The dual contribution of hemodynamic impairment and microembolism would result in different treatment for patients with these specific infarcts.

This new drug has been shown to home to ischemic stroke tissue as well as apoptotic neuronal cells of the penumbra region. This discovery may help in creating selective drug delivery for stroke patients.

Homophobia in ethnic minority communities refers to any negative prejudice or form of discrimination within the ethnic minority communities worldwide towards people who identify as – or are perceived as being – lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), known as homophobia. This may be expressed as antipathy, contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, irrational fear, and is sometimes related to religious beliefs. While religion can have a positive function in many LGB Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, it can also play a role in supporting homophobia.

Many LGBT ethnic minority persons rely on members of their ethnic group for support in terms of racial matters. However, within these communities, homophobia and transphobia often exists within the context of ethnocultural norms on gender and sexual orientation, with one American researcher claiming that "a common fallacy within communities of color is that gay men or lesbians are perceived as 'defective' men or women who want to be a member of the opposite gender". There is a lot of difficulty regarding how to categorise homosexuality throughout different cultures, In recent times, scholars have argued that Western notions of a gay and/or heterosexual identity only began to emerge in Europe in the mid to late 19th century. Behaviors that today would be widely regarded as homosexual, at least in the West, enjoyed a degree of acceptance in around three quarters of the cultures surveyed in "Patterns of Sexual Behavior" (1951).

Attitudes towards a person's sexual orientation vary throughout the United States, and the social and cultural mores surrounding sexuality have a large sociological impact on how individuals behave, especially with regard to the family unit. Many ethnic minority families in the United States do not feel comfortable discussing matters of sexuality, and disclosure of one's sexual orientation or identity often presents challenges, and many feel that their coming out process may force them to be loyal to one community over another.

In the United States, 44% of LGBT students of colour have reported experiencing bullying based on their sexual orientation and/or race; 13% reported physical harassment and 7% reported physical assault due to the same reasons.