Seizure drugs and bone problems

[Guest guest]

Hiya all

I just found this report and know a number of our athletes are on seizure

drugs. Cod liver oil, sunsine and exercise help with vitamin D to keep bones

healthy.

I will talk to Charlie's neurologist about this as soon as possible.

Happy holidays to you all

Charlie's Mom

mjh

> From: Foxhillers@...

> Foxhillers@... ; zll@...

> Sent: Monday, December 20, 2004 4:34 PM

> Subject: AEDs and bone problems

>

>

> http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/news/8525697700573E1885256F690054ECD

> 7?OpenDocument & id=48dde4a73e09a969852568880078c249 & c=Epilepsy & count=10

>

> AES: Fracture Risk Increases With Antiepileptics, Especially in Women

>

> By Bonnie Darves

>

> NEW ORLEANS, LA -- December 13, 2004 -- Bone disorders, especially low bone

> mineral density (BMD), are especially prevalent in patients with epilepsy

> and often goes be unrecognized, according to study results presented here

> December 7th during the American Epilespy Society Annual Meeting.

>

> Although both men and women who take antiepilepctic drugs are at higher risk

> for osteoporosis and fracture, incidence is especially high among older

> women, said Jouko Isojarvi, MD, PhD, researcher, Utrecht Institute for

> Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

>

> " The risk of fracture is almost twice as high in patients with epilepsy than

> in those who don't have [the disorder], and there is a striking increase in

> bone disorders and fracture rates among females after age 50, " Dr. Isojarvi

> said.

>

> Allowing that menopause is likely a contributing factor to low BMD in this

> population, he said that antiepileptic drugs clearly exacerbate the hormonal

> effect on bone loss. As such, clinicians should be on the lookout for bone

> disorders and encourage patients with low BMD to seek appropriate treatment,

> he said.

>

> The large multicentre study involved an extensive review of patient records

> from a United Kingdom primary care database that included 40,485 patients

> diagnosed with epilepsy and 80,970 controls. Patients were included in the

> epilepsy cohort if their records indicated previous use of antiepilepctics

> or a diagnosis of epilepsy. The study covered records of patients treated

> from 1990 to 1998.

>

> The researchers found 3,489 fractures among the epilepsy patients, whose

> mean age was 39.1 years, for an incidence of 241.9 per 10,000 person

> years -- nearly twice that found in the control group.

>

> The incidence density ratio of 1.96 declined slightly, to 1.89, when

> researchers adjusted for age and gender, Dr. Isojarvi said. In women with

> epilepsy who were older than 50 years, fracture rates, especially in the hip

> and femur, were more than 20% higher than in non-epilepsy control,

> suggesting that antiepilepctic drugs might be a major contributing factor.

>

>

> [Presentation title: " A Population Based Cohort Study on the Incidence of

> Fractures Among Patients With Epilepsy. " Abstract F.03]

>

>