Epilepsy on the road to cure
Background and aims
Ecuador is located at latitude 1° N to 6° S, longitude 75°W to 81° W; crossed from North to South by the Andes Mountains, with a high prevalence of Hypothyroidism, Disabilities and Epilepsy. This research, made at Axxis Medical Center in Quito, where patients from the 24 provinces of Ecuador attend, aims to prove the comorbidity of Hypothyroidism and Epilepsy in Ecuador.
Methods
Longitudinal prospective study in Neurology outpatient consultation, from January 2010 to December 2022, measuring thyroid hormones in patients with epilepsy: TSH, free T4.
Results
211 patients with epilepsy were diagnosed. Of these ones, 143 patients had epilepsy plus hypothyroidism: 62 men and 81 women. 15 patients (7.10%) from the total, all of them with Hypothyroidism: 6 men and 9 women, presented total remission of seizures, that is cure, after the treatment with Levothyroxine plus anticonvulsant drug in decreasing dose, until the latter was suppressed. The rest: 128 patients improved their evolution with the same treatment.
Conclusions
211 patients presented epilepsy, 143 (67.7%) had comorbidity with hypothyroidism. Epilepsy in comorbidity with Hypothyroidism is the product of low ATP production, due to a slow Krebs Cycle, which prevents an opportune mitochondrial synthesis of MAO enzymes with the consequent increase of catecholamines in the brain. The cure was achieved by treating Hypothyroidism, which enhances the mitochondrial synthesis of MAO
Oscar Vaca, Axxis Medical Center, Neurology External Consultation, Quito, Ecuador
