There are a number of changes underway in the way services for people with epilepsy are organised and delivered, and this new guideline includes a number of recommendations on service provision, the use of newer antiepileptic drugs and guidance in specific areas such as pregnancy and contraception, learning disability, young people. The chapter on epilepsy [read the full story…]
The PEARLS Program is a team-based approach, involving counsellors, psychiatrists and medical providers, designed to reduce depressive symptoms and improve quality of life in adults with epilepsy. It was developed by a team at the University of Washington and has been studied through two randomised controlled trials, the second of which measures the long-term benefits of [read the full story…]
The authors of this study set out to investigate the influence of epilepsy on the development of psychiatric disorders in adults with learning disabilities. The researchers measured psychiatric symptoms a year among two groups – 45 adults with learning disabilities who had active epilepsy and 45 without epilepsy. Both groups were carefully matched on level [read the full story…]
This long-term follow-up study set out to better characterise the features and correlates of epilepsy in individuals with autism. The authors point out that few long term follow up studies have been reported. 151 individuals with a diagnosis of autism in childhood were followed up at 21+ years of age. They were screened for history [read the full story…]
This systematic review of prevalence rates of chronic health conditions in children with intellectual disability found 2,994 relevant studies published between 1996 to 2008. 31 studies were included that the authors felt had sufficient methodological quality. They found that the 6 most prevalent chronic health conditions were: Epilepsy (22.0/100), Cerebral palsy (19.8/100), Anxiety disorder (17.1/100), [read the full story…]
Epilepsy is a major issue for people with learning disabilities. The National epilepsy society suggest that around 30% of people with mild to moderate learning disability also have epilepsy and the more severe the learning disability, the more likelihood there is that the person will have epilepsy. However, diagnosing epilepsy in a person with learning [read the full story…]
