Trends in epilepsy comorbidity and mortality
The final presenter, University of Washington researcher Aaron del Pozo, PhD, explained the impact of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease on overall outcomes and epilepsy.
“Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease carries a high seizure risk that affects quality of life as well as mortality,” Dr. del Pozo said.
According to data published in the British Medical Journal in 2020, the number of patients with epilepsy who had degenerative disease of the central nervous system or vascular dementia and delirium increased by approximately 210% from 1999 to 2017. Cerebral palsy trailed in second place with malignant neoplasms increasing by 50%. Cerebrovascular disease–related death in the epileptic population showed nearly negligible change, and ischemic heart disease and epilepsy decreased by approximately 25% and 15%, respectively. In addition, patients who have both epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease are less likely to survive than patients who develop epilepsy after Alzheimer’s disease.
“We found that having epilepsy alone has decreased mortality, but having it in addition to other generative diseases of the central nervous system has a 200% increase in mortality,” Dr. del Pozo said.