“Depression increases risk of epilepsy” |
| Depression increases risk of epilepsy Posted: 26 Oct 2010 11:16 PM PDT PEOPLE suffering from long-term depression are at a higher risk of developing epilepsy, a conference has heard. International studies have found links between depression and epilepsy, Professor Andres Kanner from Rush University Medical Centre in Chicago has told an inaugural epilepsy symposium in Brisbane today. "Not only people with epilepsy are at greater risk of developing depression but people with depression have four to seven times higher risk of developing epilepsy," Prof Kanner told AAP. "It has also been found depression can be associated with one third of people with epilepsy." "This is most likely with people whose seizures are not well controlled." He said depression and epilepsy shared common chemical changes in the brain. "One neuro-chemical in the brain associated with depression is serotonin. Serotonin has also been found to play an important role in the development of epilepsy," he said. "If you have a depressive disorder with abnormal serotonin secretion then this may facilitate the development of a seizure disorder." "This does not mean depression causes epilepsy or the opposite - what it suggests is the chemical changes in the brain that take place when epilepsy occurs and the chemical changes that occur in depression may be common to both conditions." Prof Kanner has been researching epilepsy for about 20 years and suffered an epileptic seizure associated with a benign tumour four years ago. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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