Treating Sleep Apnea May Subdue Seizures

https://goo.gl/oqzH4Y

Treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) may lower the risk of seizures in patients with epilepsy, researchers reported here.

In a single-center study of patients treated at the Cleveland Clinic, a larger proportion of epilepsy patients with OSA who had CPAP therapy reported at least a 50% reduction in seizures from baseline at 1 year compared with those who weren't treated, and with those who didn't have OSA (63% versus 14% and 44%), according to Thapanee Somboon, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues, in a poster presentation at the American Epilepsy Society meeting.

Somboon said few clinicians screen their epilepsy patients for this condition. "Neurologists don't often ask their epilepsy patients about sleep, but sleep affects everything," she told MedPage Today.

At the same time, "many people with epilepsy don't realize they have sleep apnea," she noted. "Being diagnosed is the first step towards getting effective treatment and potentially decreasing the risk of seizures."

The study results suggest that it's "important to screen every epilepsy patient [for OSA] with just a small, simple question: do you snore at night? Do you have apnea at night?" If the answer is yes, a neurologist can order polysomnography, and depending on the results and recommendations, can prescribe CPAP, she said.

In patients with epilepsy, a lack of quality sleep is tied to an increased risk for seizures. Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) may also increase the risk of OSA, because the drugs relax upper respiratory muscles and may cause weight gain, another risk factor for OSA, the researchers said.