Children with Newly Diagnosed Epilepsy at Risk for Cognitive Problems

Here is one of the latest science news from the American Academy of Neurology. We have evaluated a number of school-aged children with epilepsy and most of them have learning difficulties.

Children who have normal IQs before they experience a first seizure may also have problems with language, memory, learning and other cognitive skills, according to a study published in the August 12, 2009, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

“Our study highlights the importance of testing children with epilepsy for possible cognitive problems soon after they are diagnosed with epilepsy in order to avoid these issues affecting them later in life, especially if they have additional risk factors,” said study author Philip Fastenau, PhD, Professor of Neurology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the Neurological Institute of University Hospitals in Cleveland, OH. The research was done in collaboration with Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The study involved 282 school-aged children with an IQ of at least 70 who experienced their first seizure within the previous three months. They were then compared to 147 of their siblings without seizures. Scientists looked at whether the children with seizures also had other risk factors associated with cognitive problems, including multiple seizures, use of epilepsy drugs, or signs of epilepsy on early tests of brain waves.

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