Hormonal Changes in Women with Epilepsy

Abstract

Qiwei Li,1 Zhiyun Zhang,1,2 Jiajia Fang1 1Department of Neurology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital, International Institutes of Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, 322000, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Neurology, The Mianyang Central Hospital, Mianyang, Sichuan Province, 621000, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jiajia Fang, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Yiwu, 322000, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Epilepsy is a prevalent neurological disorder among women globally, often requiring long-term treatment. Hormonal fluctuations in women with epilepsy (WWE) can have reciprocal effects on epilepsy and antiseizure medications (ASMs), posing significant challenges for WWE. Notably, WWE commonly experience endocrine alterations such as thyroid dysfunctions, low bone metabolism, and reproductive hormone irregularities. On the one hand, the presence of hormones in women with epilepsy affects their susceptibility to epilepsy as well as the metabolism of antiseizure medications in various ways. On the other hand, epilepsy itself and the use of antiseizure medications impact the production, secretion, and metabolism of hormones, resulting in low fertility, increased risk of pregnancy complications, negative offspring outcomes, and so on. In order to develop more precise treatment strategies in the future, it is necessary to comprehend the explicit relationships between hormones, epilepsy, and antiseizure medications, as well as to elucidate the currently known mechanisms underlying these interactions.Keywords: women with epilepsy, antiseizure medications, endocrine, hormonal changes

Keywords

• women with epilepsy
• antiseizure medications
• endocrine
• hormonal changes.