Khaberni - Two new studies have found that depression can make epilepsy treatment more difficult and may also lead to the development of the condition.
An analytical study involving more than 90,000 U.S. health insurance claims showed that patients who have recently developed epilepsy and suffer from depression at the same time are 40% more likely to stop taking their seizure prevention medications during the first few months after developing the condition.
This means that they either stopped taking the medications or replaced them with other drugs, or they added supplementing drugs.
Fatigue, mental confusion, and possibly some slight numbness in the hands and feet are signs that many people assume are indicators of aging or even stress. However, in reality, these symptoms can be warning signs of a deficiency in essential vitamins and minerals in the body.
According to the study results, patients in this category also have increased chances of developing other mental health illnesses such as anxiety, sleep disorders, and certain physical illnesses such as diabetes, lung and kidney diseases, and heart attacks.
A second study found that people suffering from depression are 2.5 times more likely to develop epilepsy later in life.
The head of the study team attributed this link to the presence of neural networks in the brain that are common between the two illnesses, or to stress or sleep-related issues.
Dr. Howard Goodkin, head of the American Epilepsy Society, in statements conveyed by the website "HealthDay," said: "The bottom line is that good care of depression patients helps to maintain brain health."
