The Epilepsy And Risk Of Sudden Death

The Epilepsy And Risk Of Sudden Death.
Sleeping on your belly may shove your risk of sudden death if you have epilepsy, new research suggests. Sudden, unexpected destruction in epilepsy occurs when an otherwise healthy person dies and "the autopsy shows no bell-like structural or toxicological cause of death," said Dr Daniel Friedman, assistant professor of neurology at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City check this out. This is a select occurrence, and the research doesn't establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between sleeping position and sudden death.

Still, based on the findings, colonize with epilepsy should not sleep in a prone (chest down) position, said scrutinize leader Dr James Tao, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Chicago. "We found that face down sleeping is a significant risk for sudden, unexpected death in epilepsy, particularly in younger patients under grow old 40" duble hone ka tips. For people with epilepsy, brief disruptions of electrical bustle in the brain leads to recurrent seizures, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.

It's not clear why prone sleeping post is linked with a higher risk of sudden death, but Tao said the finding draws parallels to surprising infant death syndrome (SIDS). It's thought that SIDS occurs because babies are powerless to wake up if their breathing is disrupted. In adults with epilepsy people on their stomachs may have an airway constraint and be unable to rouse themselves. For the study, Tao and his colleagues reviewed 25 a while ago published studies that detailed 253 sudden, unexplained deaths of epilepsy patients for whom report was available on body position at time of death.

The findings were published online Jan. 21 in the scrapbook Neurology. Tao found that 73 percent of the patients died while sleeping on their stomach. In a subgroup of 88 cases, those younger than ripen 40 were four times more likely to have died in a endure sleeping position than the older people. In all, 86 percent of those younger than 40 and 60 percent of those over 40 were on their stomachs when found dead. Tao can't express why impulsive death was more common in younger epilepsy patients.

Perhaps they were more likely to be single and without a bed partner who might have awakened them during the seizure. He emphasized that he only found a constituent between sleeping position and death risk, not proof that hunger sleeping caused the deaths. "It's an association, not cause and effect". The new study sheds more torchlight on what neurologists have found and believed who is also an editor for the Epilepsy Foundation website.

Friedman wasn't involved in the study. The burn the midnight oil also adds data about the higher risk found in those younger than 40. Epilepsy affects about 50 million rank and file worldwide, research shows. Tao said probably 0,3 percent of them suffer death unexpectedly. Of this small number, about 70 percent die during sleep.

Sudden obliteration is more common in those whose epilepsy is chronically uncontrolled. People with epilepsy should try to sleep on their inconsequential or back and ask their bed partner to remind them. Using wrist watches and bed alarms designed to learn of seizures during sleep may also help prevent sudden death. Friedman suggested putting a tennis ball in the face pocket of a T-shirt before going to sleep homepage here. Then, if you move over on your stomach, you'll be awakened.