Pharmacotherapeutic strategies for treating epilepsy in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Pharmacotherapeutic strategies for treating epilepsy in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2018 Jul 14;:1-9 Authors: Cretin B Abstract INTRODUCTION: Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related epileptic comorbidity is now well documented and appears to have been previously underestimated. Prescribing antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in AD patients aims at preventing seizure-related morbi-mortality and the occurrence of deleterious status epilepticus. At the earlier stages of the disease, some clinicians even expect a disease-modifying effect. Areas covered: In this review, the author provides a brief overview of the epileptic comorbidity in AD, discusses the appropriate AEDs from a syndromic point of view, reviews the effectiveness and cognitive tolerability of the currently available drugs, and considers the influence of the comorbidities and the age of AD patients in the choice of an AED. Expert opinion: Given the paucity of current empirical data, much remains to be done to provide good evidence of the efficacy and tolerability of AEDs in the area of AD-related seizures and epilepsy. To our knowledge, lamotrigine and levetiracetam are currently the two best therapeutic options as low-dose monotherapies. PMID: 30009650 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Expert Opin Pharmacother Source Type: research