RESEARCHERS investigated the link between high blood pressure and epilepsy. They found that high blood pressure increases the risk of epilepsy by around 2.5 times but taking antihypertensive medications reduces this risk.
They conclude that while high blood pressure is a risk factor for epilepsy, further research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms of the link.
Epilepsy is the third most commonTrusted Source neurological condition that affects older people after stroke and dementia.
Research shows that late-onset epilepsy has become more widespreadTrusted Source in the last 2 decades.
The number of people with the condition will probably continue to rise as the aging population increases, and epilepsy will likely become a significant public health concern.
Despite this, the underlying causes of epilepsy in 32–48% of cases remain unclearTrusted Source. Some researchTrusted Source suggests that vascular risk factors may increase the risk of late-onset epilepsy.
Other researchTrusted Source indicates that vascular risk factors may be involved in epilepsy, beginning in a person’s 30s.
Understanding the role of vascular risk factors in late-onset epilepsy could help policymakers design public health measures and preventive strategies to curb and manage rates of the condition.
Recently, researchers led by the Boston University School of Medicine in the United States conducted a study investigating the link between vascular risk factors and the onset of epilepsy.
The researchers used data from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), an ongoing, community-based study that began in 1948.
Its Offspring Cohort tracks the health outcomes of 5,124 of the original participants’ children from health examinations every 4 years.
Altogether, the researchers used data from 2,986 people who attended their fifth examination between 1991 and 1995, were at least 45 years old during the period, and whose health records contained data on vascular risk factors.
