Posted by OldSchool on March 25, 2002, at 13:28:54
In reply to ECT and epilepsy, posted by Bob on March 25, 2002, at 12:54:36
> If ECT supposedly raises the seizure threshold in the human brain, then wouldn't a spate of treatments reduce or eliminate the frequency and/or severity of episodes that an epileptic might experience (at least for a short period of time)? This seems logical to me, but I've never heard mention of it in any literature. I realize it probably wouldn't be a viable treatment for epilepsy, but I figured I would have heard mention of the phenomenon in the literature as an inadvertant observation.
>
> Bob
Yes, ECT does generally make it harder to have seizures the more ECTs you have. I have read a few things on medline that propose ECT could be a possible treatment for refractory epilepsy. Of course, you also get the other side of the coin, that chronic ECT administration causes epilepsy to develop over time. You read this a lot over on the hysterical sounding anti-ECT websites (scientology/CCHR run possibly?).This is my main worry about having ECT, that it will make me become epileptic over time. Which I do not need anymore medical problems. However, I am going with my own gut feeling that this epilepsy thing relation to ECT is mostly bullshit. I have discussed it with my psychiatrists and they told me it wouldnt happen.
the only way to know for sure is to take the plunge and have a session of ECTs. Im willing to live with the consequences good or bad.
Remember that the new experimental VNS implant was originally developed for refractory epilepsy and seems to work quite well. When used for refractory depression, it does the same thing, pushes up the seizure threshhold, which obviously seems to have some antidepressant qualities. However the VNS implant accomplishes this without inducing the seizure...a sly way to accomplish the same objective as ECT.
Also keep in mind that ALL antidepressants carry with them a mini small chance of inducing seizures. yet it never happens to anyone, unless maybe they were epileptic to begin with.
Somehow I have the gut feeling that most of this epilepsy with ECT garbage is pushed as a hysterical fear sort of claim by the usual anti-psychiatry crowd to gain support for banning ECT.
Old School
poster:OldSchool
thread:100045
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020322/msgs/100049.html