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    Jefferson Adams
    Jefferson Adams

    Do Autoimmune Diseases Cause Some Epilepsy?

    Reviewed and edited by a celiac disease expert.

    Celiac.com 06/11/2014 - A new study provides strong evidence for an autoimmune cause for a significant number of epilepsy cases, and that screening autoimmune patients for epilepsy and vice versa may be helpful in making more complete diagnosis.

    Photo--Wikimedia CommonsThe team used insurance claims data from more than 2.5 million members of a national health insurance provider to examine the relationship between epilepsy and 12 autoimmune diseases: type 1 diabetes mellitus, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, Graves' disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, antiphospholipid syndrome, Sjögren syndrome, myasthenia gravis, and celiac disease.

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    Patients with an autoimmune disease faced a nearly four-fold higher risk for epilepsy (odds ratio [OR], 3.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.6 - 4.0; P < .001). The elevated risk was consistently observed across all 12 autoimmune diseases, and was especially high in children (OR, 5.2; 95% CI, 4.1 - 6.5; P < .001).

    The data showed that 17.5% of patients with epilepsy also had an autoimmune disease. In about 70% of epilepsy patients, the autoimmune diagnosis came first. Seizures tended to occur within the first 1 to 2 years after diagnosis of an autoimmune disease.

    The results of the study prompted lead investigator Kenneth Mandl, MD, MPH, from Intelligent Health Laboratory, Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, to remark that health professionals “need to expand our thinking when it comes to clinical management of these conditions.”

    The research team further added that the “potential role of autoimmunity must be given due consideration in refractory epilepsy” so that they do not overlook treatable causes for epilepsy

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    Guest Joey

    Thanks for posting this. Gut problems nearly as far back as I can remember -- over sixty years and coming to a crisis point. (Also an uncle with celiac.) And RA always in the background....as well as meds for epilepsy since 14....and I always have felt as though the docs treated each problem as though it was affecting a completely separate person to whom I wasn't related.

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  • About Me

    Jefferson Adams

    Jefferson Adams is Celiac.com's senior writer and Digital Content Director. He earned his B.A. and M.F.A. at Arizona State University. His articles, essays, poems, stories and book reviews have appeared in numerous magazines, journals, and websites, including North American Project, Antioch Review, Caliban, Mississippi Review, Slate, and more. He is the author of more than 2,500 articles on celiac disease. His university coursework includes studies in science, scientific methodology, biology, anatomy, physiology, medicine, logic, and advanced research. He previously devised health and medical content for Colgate, Dove, Pfizer, Sharecare, Walgreens, and more. Jefferson has spoken about celiac disease to the media, including an appearance on the KQED radio show Forum, and is the editor of numerous books, including "Cereal Killers" by Scott Adams and Ron Hoggan, Ed.D.

    >VIEW ALL ARTICLES BY JEFFERSON ADAMS

     


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