Seizures and Epilepsy

by | Nov 14, 2009 | Comorbidity

Seizures, Epilepsy, and Migraine

Epilepsy affects 3% of the general population at any given time, but about 10% of us will have had a seizure at some point in our lives by the time we reach the age of 80. Epileptics are 2.4 times more likely to develop migraine than the general population. This increased risk is equal for men and women. No one type of seizure disorder is affected by this increased risk more than another.

The relationship between epilepsy and migraine is also bidirectional, that is, not only are you more likely to develop migraine if you have a seizure disorder; you are also more likely to develop a seizure disorder if you have migraine.

A recent study has discovered a familial occurrence of occipitotemporal epilepsy and visual aura, and linked it to a chromosome.

references:

1. Deprez L, Peeters K, Van Paesschen W, et al. Familial occipitotemporal lobe epilepsy and migraine with visual aura. Neurology. 2007;68(23):1995 -2002.
2. Winawer M. New evidence for a genetic link between epilepsy and migraine. Neurology. 2007;68(23):1969 -1970.
3. Bigal ME, Lipton RB, Cohen J, Silberstein SD. Epilepsy and migraine. Epilepsy Behav. 2003;4 Suppl 2:S13-24.

by Christina Peterson, MD

updated Nov 14, 2009