Epilepsy and the medications to manage it are associated with osteoporosis

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-06-13 01:00

International

What does this mean?

Jump to: MultimediaAttachmentsExpert Reaction

Both epilepsy itself and anti-seizure medications (ASMs) used to manage the condition are associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis, according to international researchers. The team collected data from over 6000 people with epilepsy and looked at the rate of osteoporosis compared to the general population, accounting for a range of other health factors that could increase their osteoporosis risk. They also investigated how two types of ASMs impacted osteoporosis risk; enzyme-inducing ASMs aimed at speeding up the metabolism of the drug, and non-enzyme-inducing ASMs. The researchers say independent of anti-seizure medications, people with epilepsy developed osteoporosis 41% faster overall than the general population. Both ASMs were also independently associated with osteoporosis, they say, with the effect greater for non-enzyme-inducing ASMs.