Superior drug combo for difficult-to-control epilepsy

A combination of two common drugs, lamotrigine and valproate, is more effective in treating difficult-to control epilepsy than other anti-epileptic regimens, according to a University of Washington report to be published online this week in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology. More than 3 million Americans have epilepsy, and about one million of these have a difficult-to-treat form. In a large-scale, retrospective study of a population of patients with very difficult-to-control epilepsy, researchers discovered that only the lamotrigine/valproate treatment regimen, out of the 32 drug combinations studied, significantly decreased seizure frequency in this group. This specific combination reduced seizure frequency by about half, on average, compared to other regimens. Although it rarely produced complete freedom from seizures, the combination was superior to others in reducing the number of convulsive seizures patients experienced. Poolos explained that most people with epilepsy have good control of seizures, which means that they have been seizure-free for at least 12 consecutive months. About one third of people with epilepsy are "medically refractory." They continue to have seizures, despite trying several drug combinations prescribed by their physicians.