Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Epilepsy (But You Should)

Daniel Friedman, MDAssistant Professor of Neurology

NYU Langone Medical CenterMay 6, 2012

Epilepsy is a common disorder

• Estimated 2.2 million people with epilepsy in US (IOM report 2012)

• 1 in 26 people will develop epilepsy in their lifetime

• 0.5% of New Yorkers have epilepsy (Kelvin et al, 2006)

• Most common neurological disorder after migraine, stroke, Alzheimer’s (Hirtz et al 2007)– More common than Parkinson’s and MS combined

• Lifetime burden of disease is high

• Onset of epilepsy is most common in infancy and in older adults– Incidence of epilepsy decreasing in the young and increasing in the

elderly– Strokes, Alzheimer’s, Tumors are more common causes of epilepsy

in the elderly

Most epilepsy is due to an unknown cause

Olafsson et al, Lancet Neurology 2005

Genetics of epilepsy• Only 2% of epilepsy is attributed to a known genetic cause

– Likely there are more but we do not know the genes yet– Likely genetics plays a role in susceptibility to develop seizures

after an injury• Known genetic causes of epilepsy are most often due to

genes that cause defects in brain development, neuron migration or ion channel function

• If there is no known genetic cause, risk of epilepsy in children of parents with epilepsy is low– Generalized epilepsy more commonly inherited (4-10%)– <5% risk if mother has epilepsy, <2.5% if father has epilepsy

Not all seizures are tonic-clonic seizures

• Multiple types of seizures– Generalized

• Absence• Myoclonic• Tonic/Atonic• Atypical Absence• Clonic• Primary generalized tonic-clonic

– Partial Onset• Simple Partial• Complex Partial• Secondarily generalized tonic-clonic

• Compared to other seizure types, GTCs are less frequent in many patients with epilepsy

• Typically better controlled by medication

• Not all convulsive movements are GTCs– GTCs involve stiffening followed by

shaking of both sides– Often groan or cry at onset– Loss of posture or fall– Deep breathing and

unresponsiveness afterwards• Simple & complex partial seizures

are more common in focal epilepsies

Epilepsyfoundation.org

Delay to diagnosisIn one study of new onset seizures, 36% had seizures preceding the

event that brought them to treatment; 5% had seizures for >5 years (Marson et al, 2005)

Patients may have smaller seizures (simple partial, complex partial and myoclonic seizures) for yearsOnly when they have GTC is the diagnosis clearEvents may be misdiagnosed as panic attacks, migraines, TIAs, etc for

yearsDelay to diagnosis of some epilepsy syndromes may lead to improper

treatmentJME – mean delay to definitive diagnosis ~5-14 yearsMay be treated with wrong drugNeed to ask about myoclonic jerks during wakefulness – not all patients recognize these as seizures or think they are abnormal

Mimics of epilepsy & seizures

• Psychogenic non-epileptic events– ~1/4 of patients seen for intractable “seizures”– Delay to diagnosis is long (up to 7 yrs)– Video-EEG is the gold standard diagnosis– Can coexist with epileptic seizures

• Syncope– Fainting due to low blood pressure because

arrhythmia or vasovagal– About 30-80% with syncope will have some

convulsive movements

• Hypoglycemia– Can cause episodic loss or decreased consciousness– Can cause seizure as well

• Panic attacks– Can be mistaken for simple partial seizures– Typically last much longer than the average seizure (10 min), have a

crescendo, situational• Dystonias

– Abnormal stiffening or postures– Lasts hours

• Sleep disorders– Cataplexy/Narcolepsy– Parasomnias – sleep walking, night terrors and confusional arousals– REM behavior disorder– Often can be diagnosed with a sleep study

• Hypnic jerks – Sudden, myoclonic jerk as drifting off to sleep– Normal & benign; often provoked by sleep deprivation.

Many seizures are unrecognized• Seizures can impair awareness and

memory, including awareness of having a seizure

• In one study, only 26% of patients were aware of ALL of their seizures; 30% of patients were NEVER aware of their seizures (Blum et al, 1996)

• This may be problem when assessing response to treatment, especially in people who live alone

• Some hints that seizure may have occurred include – lost time, headache, fatigue, tongue bite, unexplained muscle soreness

Mood disorders and epilepsy• Depression is common in people

with epilepsy– 11-60% will have depressive

symptoms• More common in people with difficult

to control epilepsy– Much higher than general

population– Often unrecognized and untreated– May be bigger impact on quality of

life than seizures– 3x higher risk of having suicidal

thoughts• Relationship to medications is

controversial Hesdorffer et al, 2006

• Epilepsy is more common in people with depression– Having depression or suicidality increases chances

of developing epilepsy later on by 5-7 times

• Anxiety disorders more common in people with epilepsy – 30%

Mortality and epilepsy

• Most people with epilepsy live normal, long productive lives

• However, epilepsy is associated with a 2-3 x elevation in age-adjusted mortality and decreased life-expectancy

• Some of the mortality is due to underlying cause of epilepsy (e.g. strokes, tumors, etc)

• People without a known cause of epilepsy have only a ~1.5x increase in mortality rate

Lhatoo et al, 2008

Causes of death in epilepsy• Epilepsy & seizure related– Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy

• Probably most common cause in difficult to treat epilepsy– Status epilepticus– Accidents and drownings– Suicide– Drug reactions

• Other – related to cause of epilepsy– Brain tumors– Pneumonia– Brain infections– Neurodegenerative disease

Famous people you didn’t know had epilepsy

Charles Dickens

Dante Edgar Allan Poe

Gustave FlaubertLeo Tolstoy

Alexander the Great

Julius Caesar

Harriet Tubman

http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/famous

Soren Kierkegaard

Truman Capote

Richard Burton

Tiki Barber

Florence Griffith Joyner

Neil Young

James Madison