Women with epilepsy just as likely to get pregnant as healthy women of childbearing age

via dailyrxnews.com

Source: NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine | Summary: In a prospective study, women with epilepsy had a comparable likelihood of achieving pregnancy, time taken to get pregnant, and pregnancy outcomes such as miscarriage, compared to a group of healthy peers. These findings contradict previously held beliefs in the medical community regarding the fertility of women with epilepsy.

"Women with epilepsy are just as likely to achieve a successful pregnancy as women without the neurological disorder, according to a new study led by research teams at multiple centers, including NYU Langone Medical Center.

In a prospective study, women with epilepsy had a comparable likelihood of achieving pregnancy, time taken to get pregnant, and pregnancy outcomes such as miscarriage, compared to a group of healthy peers. These findings, presented April 17 at the American Academy of Neurology's 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, contradict previously held beliefs in the medical community regarding the fertility of women with epilepsy.

More than 1.1 million U.S. women with epilepsy are of childbearing age and approximately 24,000 babies are born to women with epilepsy each year, according to figures from The Epilepsy Foundation, which funded the new research.

Previous studies have found infertility rates up to two to three times higher for women with epilepsy, or that as many as one-third of women with epilepsy may experience difficulty with pregnancy. But, a comprehensive study has not been done to date to confirm this until now, according to the researchers..."

Read more here:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160416094748.htm

Birth Control Pill may Raise Seizure Risk For Some Women

Credit: prevention.com

"A new study suggests that ethinyl estradiol, the primary component of oral contraceptives, could increase seizures in women with epilepsy.

“We were inspired by an earlier study which surveyed women with epilepsy and found that those using hormonal contraceptives self-reported 4.5 times more seizures than those that did not use oral contraceptives,” says Samba Reddy, professor of neuroscience and experimental therapeutics at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.

Findings of the new study, published in the journal Epilepsy Research, show that when epileptic animal models received ethinyl estradiol, they not only had more frequent seizures, but the seizures were more likely to be uncontrolled. “We suspected for some time that hormonal birth control increases seizure activity in women with epilepsy, but now we know what part of the contraceptive is problematic.”

Epilepsy is more difficult to control in women once they reach sexual maturity, Reddy says. “The hormones that control menstruation and pregnancy can trigger seizures. Women often experience more seizures in the week before their period due to the change in these hormones...”

Learn more here:

http://www.futurity.org/birth-control-epilepsy-seizures-1128012/

How to manage epilepsy during pregnancy

via contemporaryobgyn.modernmedicine.com

"Seizure disorders are common in women of childbearing age. Approximately 500,000 reproductive-aged women in the United States carry the diagnosis. It is estimated to affect 3–5 births per 1000 women but the exact incidence remains unknown.

Seizure disorder overview

A diagnosis of seizure disorder or epilepsy is made when 2 or more spontaneous, unprovoked seizures occur more than 24 hours apart. Epilepsy may also be diagnosed after one unprovoked seizure in women who have risk factors and have a high recurrence risk. If a person has been free of seizures for at least 10 years, without the use of anti-seizure medications in the previous 5 years, epilepsy can be considered resolved.

 Seizures are classified as either generalized or focal per the International League Against Epilepsy Commission on Classification and Terminology. Generalized seizures are the result of neuron activation in both hemispheres. Most convulsive generalized seizures are of the tonic-clonic type although they may also include myoclonic, clonic, tonic, atonic and absence seizures. Loss of consciousness occurs during all generalized seizures.

Focal seizures involve activation of neurons in one hemisphere and may or may not result in loss of consciousness. Absence seizures are non-convulsive generalized seizures and are notable for their short duration with motor arrest and lack of postictal confusion. They are associated with brief lapses of consciousness and are more common in children than adults..."

Learn more here:

http://contemporaryobgyn.modernmedicine.com/contemporary-obgyn/news/helping-your-epileptic-patient-1?cfcache=true