COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — A recent Texas A&M Health Science Center study suggests that a primary component of oral contraceptives could increase the risk of seizures in women who live with epilepsy.
The findings were recently published in the journal Epilepsy Research. In the study, when female mice received ethinyl estradiol, the animal not only had more frequent seizures but the seizures were more likely to be uncontrolled.
Uncontrolled seizures last longer than 30-40 seconds and are more likely to permanently damage the brain.
Dr. Samba Reddy, professor of neuroscience and experimental therapeutics at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, was the principal investigator of the study. Reddy said as a result of the study, she recommends that women of childbearing age with epilepsy speak with their neurologist or endocrinologist about using non-hormonal forms of birth control.
The research was party funded through a grant from the National Institutes of Health.