New Delhi, Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes frequent seizures or fits. The symptoms of a seizure depend on the specific part of the brain. Its symptoms can include jerking of limbs, staring at one place, sudden collapse, confusion, loss of consciousness, strange emotional feeling, anxiety, psychosis and many more. Epilepsy symptoms
As epilepsy can affect people of any age, gender. Epilepsy in women raises special concerns, which we are going to tell you about in this article. The most important hormones in women are estrogen and progesterone.
Estrogen is pro-convulsant (increases seizure frequency), progesterone is anti-convulsant (reduces seizure frequency). There are times in women’s lives when hormone levels and hormone balance change: during puberty, menstruation, pregnancy and menopause.
Thus, the risk of convulsions increases in this condition. Some women experience seizures at certain times around the menstrual cycle, especially shortly before menstruation, known as “catamenial epilepsy”.
In most cases anti-seizure medications can make hormonal birth control less effective, but in some cases hormonal birth control can make antiseizure medications less effective. Using barrier methods of contraception (condom/diaphragm) or having an intrauterine device is most important for women with epilepsy.
According to many studies, women with this disease have fewer children. Possible explanations include birth defects, sexual dysfunction, anovulatory cycles, fear of having a baby with polycystic ovary syndrome.
According to a recent study in 2018, women with epilepsy without a prior diagnosis of infertility or a related disorder had similar pregnancy rates compared to their peers without epilepsy. Further follow-up from a healthcare provider is recommended.SS1MS