Progesterone and Seizures
The most common treatment for epilepsy is the use of anti-convulsant medications. Almost 60% of patients are seizure free while taking AEDs (anti-epileptic drugs) and another 20% obtain partial control of their seizures. The remaining 20% of patients, however, have intractable epilepsy, and are resistant to current available medications. Researchers are continually looking for new ways in which to treat seizures in people who are currently unresponsive.
One potential medication possibility that researchers are currently exploring is naturally occurring hormones, including progesterone which have been found to have anti-convulsant effects. Progesterone is one of the most important hormones in women, and helps to regulate menstruation. Women who experience seizures often note a link between their seizures and their menstrual cycles.
Recent experiments led by Drs. W. McIntyre Burnham and Deborah Lonsdale at University of Toronto have focused on the means by which progesterone inhibits seizures in female rats. These rats were induced to have seizures resembling complex partial seizures with secondary generalization. This is the most common type of seizure in adults and is often the most drug resistant. After the rats began seizuring they were then injected with varying amounts of the hormones being tested and the responses of the rats observed.
The researchers found that fifteen minutes after the injection of progesterone it did indeed have anticonvulsant effects, but only at higher doses. The delay in the change of activity likely indicates that the effective chemical is produced when the hormone is metabolized in the body.
What does this mean for people with seizures?
While it is now clear to medical researchers that hormones do have an impact on seizures, we are still a long way from using this process to effectively control seizures. It does offer a positive step, and a path to follow to figure out how to make effective doses of the hormone safe for use, or if there is another way to trigger the process.
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