Late-Adult-Onset Idiopathic Epilepsy and Dementia Risk

A large study of older veterans finds a nearly twofold increase in risk for dementia following diagnosis of late-onset seizures without known cause.

Do late-adult-onset seizures have an association with risk for dementia or just reflect an independent cause without concern for a degenerative disease? To address this question, researchers examined data from a random sample of nearly 1 million veterans aged 55 and older to identify incident cases (over a 5-year baseline) of late-onset seizures of unknown etiology (LOSU). Patients with existing diagnoses of epilepsy/seizures, possible secondary causes of seizures, dementia, or neurotoxin exposure were excluded.

During the baseline period, 2166 veterans were diagnosed with LOSU, of whom 181 (8.36%) were diagnosed with dementia during the mean 6.1 years of follow-up. In contrast, only 4.79% of the 290,096 veterans without LOSU were diagnosed …

Reviewing Author

Robert C. Knowlton, MD, MSPH

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardMore Health, Inc.; The Alliance of Medical Companies

Grant/Research SupportNIH Small Business Innovation Research

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSouthern Epilepsy & EEG Society (Treasurer)

Robert C. Knowlton, MD, MSPH

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardMore Health, Inc.; The Alliance of Medical Companies

Grant/Research SupportNIH Small Business Innovation Research

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSouthern Epilepsy & EEG Society (Treasurer)

Late-Adult-Onset Idiopathic Epilepsy and Dementia Risk

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Reviewing Author