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Neurology (Expert Forum)
epilepsy affecting personality?
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epilepsy affecting personality?
by val__0, Dec 24, 1998 12:00AM
When my daughter was 3 she developed 'dizzy spells' which were diagnosed as epileptic and she was treated with Dilantin and Phenobarb. The phenobarb was dropped because of its effects.This continued until the teen years when a new diagnosis said that although she had an ECG which was abnormal, it could also be found in non epileptic people and perhaps she had an inner ear disturbance. Once during this time she lost consciousness for the first time and fell off her bike.As a young adult she became quite withdrawn. At university she was brilliant and now has her doctorate.For several years we haven't seen her because she has detached from her family.. I have found out recently that there is evidence of schizophrenia 2 generations back.I remember reading somewhere that there was a personality type which could lead to alienation from family.This causes much grief for us all. Could there be a connection with the formerly diagnosed epileptic pattern?
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Thanks for your question. The following are two clinical review articles
on the subject of correlation between schizophrenia and epilepsy. These
articles were not intended, and were written in layman's term, but can be
read with some effort. They can be found in any good university library.
I also included a short excerpt of the abstract from the first article.
Seizures and schizophrenia.
Schizophr Bull 1997;23(4):611-22
Hyde TM; Weinberger DR
Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, NIMH Neuroscience Ctr., St. Elizabeths Hospital, Washington, DC 20032, USA.
"Patients with epilepsy develop psychosis or schizophrenia at a rate
exceeding that expected if the two disorders were independent. Similarly,
patients with schizophrenia are more prone to seizures than the general
population".
Epilepsy and schizophrenia: a neurochemical bridge.
J Neural Transm 1977;40(2):159-70
Lamprecht F
I hope this information is helpful. Best of luck.
This information is provided for general medical education purposes only.
Please consult your doctor regarding diagnostic and treatment options.
