Natural approaches to epilepsy

Alternative Medicine Review, March, 2007 by Alan R. Gaby

Patients being treated with vitamin B6 should probably also receive a magnesium supplement, in view of evidence that these nutrients work together and anecdotal reports that vitamin B6 supplementation increases the requirement for magnesium.

Magnesium

Severe magnesium depletion can cause seizures (74,75) or increase susceptibility to seizure-inducing stimuli. (76) Intravenously infused magnesium exerted an anticonvulsant effect against experimentally-induced epileptic foci in cats and dogs. (77) In humans, parenterally administered magnesium is an effective treatment for the seizures of neonatal tetany (78) and eclampsia and possibly for those associated with ethanol withdrawal and acute intermittent porphyria. (79)

Magnesium concentrations in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were significantly lower in 40 patients with grand mal epilepsy than in controls. (80,81) Serum and CSF magnesium levels fell with increasing duration and frequency of seizures. Oral administration of magnesium has been associated in some cases with an improvement in EEG findings and a reduction in seizure frequency. (82)

Vitamin E

Erythrocyte or plasma vitamin E concentrations were lower in children with epilepsy than in healthy controls. Vitamin E levels were lower in children receiving multi-drug therapy than in children receiving single-drug therapy. (83,84) In some studies, vitamin E supplementation reduced seizure frequency, although no improvement was seen in other studies.

Twenty-four children (ages 6-17 years) with treatment-resistant epilepsy were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, 400 IU/day d-alpha-tocopheryl acetate or placebo for three months. Of the 12 patients given vitamin E, 10 had a greater-than-60-percent reduction in seizure frequency (of that 10, six had a 90-100% reduction). None of the patients in the placebo group had a greater-than-60-percent reduction in seizure frequency (p<0.05 for the difference in response rate between groups). Vitamin E treatment had no effect on plasma levels of anticonvulsant medications. (85)

Thirty-five epileptic children and adults were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, 250 IU/day vitamin E or placebo for three months. Anticonvulsants were continued as previously. Of the 12 adults receiving vitamin E, eight had a decrease in seizure frequency, two had an increase, and two were unchanged. Of the six children receiving vitamin E, two had a reduction in seizure frequency and four had no change. No changes were seen in the children and adults receiving placebo. (86)

In a double-blind study published as an abstract, supplementation with vitamin E reduced mean seizure frequency by 32 percent (p=0.03) in a group of severely mentally handicapped patients with treatment-resistance epilepsy. However, information was omitted regarding the dosage regimen and the response in the placebo group. (87)

In a study of 10 severely handicapped epileptic patients (ages 4-23 years) receiving anticonvulsants, supplementation with 100 IU/day dl-alpha-tocopheryl acetate for one month had no effect on seizure frequency. (88)

Forty-three teenagers and adults with uncontrolled epilepsy were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, 600 IU/day vitamin E or placebo for three months. After a one-week washout period, each patient received the alternate treatment for an additional three months. Anticonvulsant medications were continued as previously. The mean seizure frequency decreased by 25.7 percent during the placebo period and by 13.8 percent during the vitamin E period compared with baseline. (89)