Adolescents and epilepsy: hormonal aspects.
Epilepsy is one of the most frequent disease in children, particularly in adolescents. Some types of epilepsy begin typically in the peripubertal period and many studies found changes in frequency or features of seizures in adolescents. This is probably related to sex hormone effects on neuronal excitability. Estrogens seem to decrease neuronal electric threshold with proconvulsant effects. On the contrary progesterone seems to have anticonvulsivant action, as well as testosterone. Changes in hormone serum levels that occur during pubertal period are probably related to modifications in seizure features and are involved in some types of epilepsy that begin typically in adolescence.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy. averrott@unich.it
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Verrotti
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R
Manco
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Scardapane
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Chiarelli
D000293:Adolescent; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D011374:Progesterone / Q000502:physiology*; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000502:physiology*
D004967:Estrogens; D013739:Testosterone; D011374:Progesterone