Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Stroke victims risk developing epilepsy

By Carolyn Susman Cox News Service

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Researchers in Norway have determined that stroke severity measured by the Scandinavian Stroke Scale is a statistically significant predictor for epilepsy after stroke.

Data further shows that more than 20,000 Americans will develop epilepsy because of stroke each year. The research published in the August issue of the journal Epilepsia.

In one of the longest follow-up studies performed with data from almost 500 patients, researchers found that 3.1 percent of people who suffered a stroke developed epilepsy. Those who experienced severe strokes had five times the risk of developing epilepsy post-stroke compared with those with less severe strokes.

Neither treatment in a specialized stroke unit, age at onset of stroke or geographical location seemed to influence the risk of developing epilepsy after a stroke in this study.

Researchers add it is vital that health workers are aware of the risk of post-stroke epilepsy. If they are able to detect epileptic seizures among stroke patients, treatment with anti-epileptic drugs is often effective in preventing the patient from having more seizures.