Blood pressure medications help with epilepsy
According to new research, some blood pressure-lowering medications have an additional bonus. Namely: they reduce the risk of epilepsy by 30%. Further research is needed, but it really is a working tool for preventing epilepsy in at-risk adults.
Disclaimer: We are not talking about a cure for epilepsy, about a breakthrough, or about a Heavenly Miracle. Under the FDA's Breakthrough Therapy designation, already approved drugs are much easier to use to treat diseases other than their target diseases. As an example, a diabetes drug that is used to treat obesity. The same thing happened with blood pressure medications.
How did blood pressure-lowering drugs target epilepsy?
Epilepsy usually begins in childhood, but can occur at any age. And at first glance, it’s somehow hard to believe that it is the elderly who are at risk. However, the same study provides evidence that people aged around 60 years have an increased risk of both epilepsy and acute seizures. The risk increases sharply for people over 60 living in wealthier countries. It sounds kind of crazy to me, but it's a fact.
Diving into the connection between blood pressure and epilepsy
For older people main reason seizures and epilepsy remains a stroke. Chronic high blood pressure correlates with both the risks of stroke and the risks of developing epilepsy. Medications can be used to control seizures, but there is no approved drug to prevent epilepsy in people at risk.
A study from Stanford University School of Medicine found that an existing class of drugs to lower high blood pressure reduces the risk of developing epilepsy in older adults.
This is incredibly exciting because we currently have no medications to prevent epilepsy. I hope these initial results will lead to randomized clinical trials.
Kimford Meador, a professor of neurology and neurological sciences at Stanford and an author of the study.
Background of the study
A 2022 study of more than 160,000 German residents found that those taking angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), a class of drugs used to treat high blood pressure, had a reduced risk of developing epilepsy.
Angiotensin is a hormone produced by the body that constricts blood vessels, increasing blood pressure. ARBs block the action of angiotensin, lowering blood pressure and reducing inflammation in blood vessels and other organs, including the brain.
An interesting point about the subtle connection between different physical states and the work of consciousness. There is a ready-made example of how a malfunction of the immune system and the effect of this on the blood-brain barrier of the brain lead to schizophrenia.
Drugs that use an ARB as the main active ingredient always end in “sartan” – for example, candesartan (Atacand), eprosartan (Teveten), irbesartan (Avapro), losartan (Cozaar), Olmesartan (Benicar), telmisartan (Micardis) and valsartan (Diovan ).
The names are given as an example and do not constitute recommendations for purchase.
Study protocol in which blood pressure-lowering drugs help with epilepsy
In a new study, scientists went further. After studying the national database of US residents, a group of 2.2 million people was identified who:
High blood pressure was diagnosed.
At least one medicine for high blood pressure was prescribed.
And there were no attacks of epilepsy or cardiovascular diseases yet.
The study sample had a mean age of 61 years, 49.5% women, and respondents were more racially diverse than those in the German study.
About 14% of study participants were taking ARBs, while most were taking other classes of high blood pressure medications: beta-adrenergic blockers, calcium channel blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs). Although all classes reduce blood pressure, each has its mechanism of action .
Results of a study in which blood pressure-lowering drugs help with epilepsy
Between 2010 and 2017, people taking ARBs had a 20% to 30% lower risk of developing epilepsy than those taking other blood pressure-lowering drugs. The difference persisted when people who had had a stroke were excluded from the analysis, suggesting that the lower risk of epilepsy was not the result of a reduced risk of stroke.
We repeated the results of a study that was conducted in Germany. But they did it on a larger and more diverse sample. This increases the significance of the study and indicates that these results have real benefits for humanity.
Kimford Meador, a professor of neurology and neurological sciences at Stanford and an author of the study.
One ARB, losartan, significantly reduced the risk of epilepsy, but researchers say more research is needed to confirm this. Although the researchers could not explain why ARBs caused this risk reduction, their results are consistent with previous studies suggesting that the anti-inflammatory effects of ARBs may be a contributing factor. After all brain inflammation after a stroke or traumatic brain injury is a risk factor for the development of epilepsy.
Is it possible to guarantee that medications that lower blood pressure help with epilepsy?
Of course, randomized clinical trials are still needed to prove the link between ARBs and reduced risk of epilepsy. However, the researchers say all blood pressure medications are likely to be correlated with reduced risks. By controlling high blood pressure with medications and/or lifestyle changes, people reduce the potential for this particular condition.
In each article I write that there is no “unambiguous cure for a specific disease.” Everything that scientists discover and rediscover has always been and will be a matter of probabilities. So in this article we are only talking about the fact that medications that lower blood pressure in the ARB category reduce the likelihood of developing epilepsy and epileptic seizures.
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