Study, 1985
Do women with cycle-related seizures have different hormone levels?
Women whose seizures are linked to the premenstrual phase had notably lower levels of a hormone called LH on certain days of their menstrual cycle compared to women whose seizures are not cycle-related.
What they did
Researchers measured LH hormone levels on 8 different days of the menstrual cycle in 22 women with epilepsy being treated with phenytoin and/or phenobarbital. They compared 10 women whose seizures occurred during the premenstrual phase with 12 women whose seizures were unrelated to their cycle.
What they found
Women whose seizures were linked to the premenstrual phase had notably lower LH levels on days 13 and 22 of their menstrual cycle compared to women whose seizures were not cycle-related and women treated for leg pain who took the same medications.
What it means for you
Lower LH levels may suggest that the corpus luteum, which produces progesterone after ovulation, is not working properly. This could lead to lower progesterone and might help explain why some women's seizures are triggered during the premenstrual phase. Limited by small sample size and being specific to women on certain medications.
22
women with epilepsy studied
10
women with seizures during premenstrual phase
12
women with non-cycle-related seizures
About the study
- Original title
- [Serum luteinizing hormone (LH) level during menstrual cycle in women treated for epilepsy]
- Authors
- Rościszewska D, Dudkiewicz J, Blecharz A
- Journal
- Neurologia i neurochirurgia polska
- Year
- 1985
- Study design
- Study
- Participants
- 22
- What was tested
- None - observational comparison of women with and without cycle-related seizures
- Read the paper
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4047297/
Topics
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