Obesity and epilepsy may share common origin

Neurologists in the US say they are increasingly concerned about the high prevalence of obesity in children newly diagnosed with epilepsy. Writing in the journal Neurology (online) this week, they say a recent study of 250 children with newly-diagnosed and untreated epilepsy found that they had twice the rate of obesity and overweight than a comparable control group. The study, which found that 20% of the patients were obese and 19% were overweight, raised the possibility of a causal link between obesity and new onset childhood epilepsy, they said. While obesity among children with epilepsy was often attributed to the known risk of excessive weight gain associated with some antiseizure drugs, especially sodium valproate, they said the new findings could not be explained by drug adverse events. “The question of biologic plausibility and causality will demand more investigation,” an accompanying editorial said. “Do some of the metabolic abnormalities associated with obesity predispose to seizures, are changes in appetite or physical activity harbingers of impending epilepsy, or is there a common pathway that fosters both obesity and seizures?” The study authors said obesity in epilepsy was particularly worrying, given the adverse weight effects and endocrine changes associated with many commonly used antiepileptic medications. Therefore clinicians caring for children with epilepsy should consider obesity when selecting the medication, they suggested....