Photo Scanner: Catamenial Epilepsy

Thursday 25 October 2012

Catamenial Epilepsy

Catamenial epilepsy is a subtype of epilepsy, which is a chronic neurological condition characterized by recurrent seizures. Catamenial epilepsy is a subset of this population, which includes women of whom their seizure exacerbation is aligned with their menstrual cycle. Women with catamenial epilepsy are unusually sensitive to endogenous hormonal changes. This seizure exacerbation has a statistically significant positive correlation to serum estradiol/estrogen levels and ratios. Since at least the Greek times, there has been documented study of women with epilepsy and its correlation to the menstrual cycle.[3] These patterns can easily be seen by charting out menses against seizure occurrence and type. Several treatment methods have been determined exclusively for women with catamenial epilepsy. A great majority of these therapies include progestagens (naturally occurring) or progestins (synthetic progestagen). Drug interactions are an important factor when using progesterone therapy, as many antiseizure medications augment hepatic metabolism of gonadal steroids, and increase serum protein binding to hormones.