FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Holly Gibson at Fleishman Hillard, Inc. 816/512-2349 [email protected]
WOMEN WITH EPILEPSY: GIVING INCREASED ATTENTION TO UNIQUE CONCERNS
BOSTON, Mass. (Dec. 8, 1997) -- Systematic research into epilepsy's unique effect on women is a relatively new and developing area of scientific investigation. Yet, pilot studies reported at the 1997 meeting of the American Epilepsy Society (AES) Dec. 5--10 at The Westin Copley Place in Boston suggest that even what is already known may not be adequately incorporated into the health care and counseling of women with seizures. Other reports presented at the meeting will shed new light on previously undocumented risks of non-convulsive seizures during pregnancy, and the dilemma facing menopausal women with epilepsy.
Epilepsy's impact on women is the current focus of a public awareness campaign introduced by patient groups in November, as well as one of several topics featured at AES '97.
"Largely, as a result of their reproductive cycles, women experience epilepsy in ways different from how men experience the condition," says Marc Dichter, M.D., Ph.D., and current AES president. "An important area of women's research is the relationship between female hormones and the brain. How might drugs be developed to influence that relationship to stop seizures? And, what, if any, is the potential effect of the various epilepsy drugs on a woman's unborn child?"
STUDIES HIGHLIGHT COUNSELING/MANAGEMENT ISSUES
Epilepsy researchers are studying such things as pregnancy care, estrogen replacement therapy and the risk of seizures to the unborn fetus. In fact, a recent pilot study conducted by the department of neurology at Allegheny University Hospitals in Philadelphia confirmed that women with epilepsy have special needs concerning family planning and management during pregnancy. According to study findings, preconceptual, contraceptive and pregnancy counseling of women with epilepsy is either not accomplished or not documented in a significant number of cases. As a result, researchers recommend that a standard counseling format would help in planning and preventing potential complications during pregnancy (abstract 70108, platform G.043).
In a related study at Stanford University Medical Center in Stanford, Calif., researchers reviewed 161 pregnancies to evaluate the extent to which management guidelines were incorporated into the care of pregnant women with epilepsy. According to their findings, several encouraging trends were observed. But, overall, recent care recommendations for pregnant women with epilepsy have not been incorporated into the practice of many physicians (abstract 70439, platform G.046).
UTERINE CONTRACTIONS IN NON-CONVULSIVE SEIZURES
Convulsive seizures are known to pose risks to the unborn children of pregnant women with epilepsy, but the effects of partial seizures in pregnancy have not been documented. To learn more about partial seizures in pregnancy, doctors at Southwestern Medical Center conducted a medical record review of seizures occurring during labor and delivery in women with epilepsy at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas. Their findings suggest that non-convulsive seizures can be accompanied by prolonged and forceful uterine contractions. Further, these abnormal contractions could account for the increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirths and hemorrhage seen in some pregnancies complicated by epilepsy (abstract 70715, platform G.043).
ESTROGEN AND INCREASED SEIZURE ACTIVITY
The effect of menopause on women with epilepsy was also the focus of a recent medical study. Menopause is associated with a reduction in seizure frequency in some women with the disorder. But according to a study led by Dr. Cynthia Harden, assistant professor of neurology for the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Cornell Medical Center in New York, menopausal women using synthetic estrogen replacement therapy may see an increase in seizure frequency. The research team cautions that the decision to use such a therapy for menopause may need to be reconsidered by women with epilepsy and their doctors (abstract 70409, platform H.3).
"We need to evaluate the regimens that may be safe for menopausal women with epilepsy, such as adding a natural progesterone, which may mitigate the possible pro-seizure effect of synthetic hormone replacement therapy," says Harden.
The American Epilepsy Society is the professional society for physicians and other health care professionals who treat or study the biological, clinical and/or psychological aspects of epilepsy. Among its members are neurologists, epileptologists, neurologic nurses, basic scientists and clinical investigators devoted to improving the quality of life for the 2.5 million Americans with seizure disorders.
###
RSS