day/night seizure patterns

[occb]

I remember on her someone had once posted the times of day certain types of seizures were more likely to happen (was that you Nak?), but for the life of me, I haven't been able to find that thread again. I was curious to look at it again, because partner usually has activity at specific times of the day.

Anyway, I did a google search when I failed to find the info here, and found this little study:

Day/night patterns of focal seizures


References and further reading may be available for this article. To view references and further reading you must purchase this article.


Milena K. Pavlova, , a, b, Steven A. Sheab and Edward B. Bromfielda

a Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA

b Sleep Disorders Research Program at BIDMC, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA

Received 22 August 2003; Revised 14 October 2003; accepted 14 October 2003. Available online 20 December 2003.

Abstract
Purpose. In many patients with epilepsy seizures occur with a day/night pattern. Our aims were to compare day/night patterns in seizure frequency among patients with different epileptogenic regions.

Methods. We analyzed video-EEG recordings in 15 patients with temporal lobe (TLE) and 11 with extratemporal lobe epilepsy (XTLE). Each seizure was classified according to subject group (TLE vs XTLE), sleep/wake state, and time of day of seizure occurrence (grouped into 6 × 4-hour “bins”).

Results. Of 90 seizures, 41 occurred in TLE and 49 in XTLE patients. There were day/night patterns of seizure occurrence in each group, with differences in the patterns between groups. In TLE, 50% of seizures occurred between the hours of 15:00 and 19:00 (17% would be expected by chance in each 4-hour “bin”: F=3.59, P<0.006). In XTLE, there was a peak between 19:00 and 23:00 (47%: F=4.72, P<0.0018). The effect of time on seizures was least pronounced in the XTLE patients who had more than one epileptogenic region. The proportion of seizures occurring from sleep was significantly less in TLE (19%) than in XTLE patients (41%) [P<0.04, Fisher's exact test].

Conclusions. There are clear day/night patterns of seizure occurrence in epilepsy, with differences in the patterns between TLE and XTLE. There is an additional interaction with sleep/wake state, with relatively few seizures occurring from sleep in TLE compared with XTLE. Thus, it appears that both sleep/wake state and day/night or circadian rhythms may affect seizure proclivity, with different effects depending on the location of the epileptogenic region.

Found here

It makes me wonder about partner's afternoon seizures, which are usually the ones that leave him angry, confused, exhausted, and in pain, and normally occur between 3 and 5 pm (although sometimes they happen a little earlier and a little later).

 

[Nakamova]

It's interesting stuff. I wish it were clearer WHY particular times of day are linked to particular seizures. Does the temporal lobe or hippocampus "get tired" in the afternoon? Is there a daily cyclical hormonal change or neurotransmitter change that the temporal lobe is vulnerable to?

 

[Rae1889]

agree. mine most commonly happen around 5:30-8:30. although there are some that fall outside this time frame. But this is when I usually get off work.

 

[occb]

It's interesting stuff. I wish it were clearer WHY particular times of day are linked to particular seizures. Does the temporal lobe or hippocampus "get tired" in the afternoon? Is there a daily cyclical hormonal change or neurotransmitter change that the temporal lobe is vulnerable to?

I was wondering all of these things too, or if, at least in partner's light sensitivity case, it has to do with long light exposure, since one of the visual pathways ends in the mesial temporal lobe.

I can always speculate, but chances are I'll never get an answer.

Rae -- it's such an odd thing to practically be able to predict the time of day by when you start losing time lol

 

[Rae1889]

lol so funny and so true.

I used to get this strange feeling in the evening *its hard to explain, almost like sinking* when I knew it was 9pm to take my meds/

 

[occb]

I'll have to check with partner to see how he feels at that hour. I haven't noticed anything as yet, but that might be because his body is acclimatized only to the single dose, instead of two daily doses.

 

[Nakamova]

I wonder if things would get worse if he lived near the equator, and were exposed to more light on an average daily basis. Or maybe farther North would be worse with the 24-hour sunshine part of the year. Hmm.

 

[occb]

The days are getting longer right now, and he's a bitter, bitter man. I think 24 hour sunlight would be the death of him. Exactly 12 hours a day may suit him just fine, or maybe we really should just get him to change to a completely nocturnal schedule. Sleep from the time I leave for work, until I come home, then stay up all night. We'll have to figure out how to manage that with limited space. If we can get him well enough to stock shelves at midnight, then we'd be golden.

 

[Rae1889]

lol this might be too much buffy talking but, sounds like partner is a vampire!!! oooh sexy. lol not meaning to offend you in any wya.

 

[occb]

I've thought the same myself -- would you believe he's had his canines filed down twice when he was younger, because they were so long, he kept biting his lip? Or that his night vision is more acute than anyone else we know?

Maybe I'll wear a scarf to sleep tonight.

 

[Nakamova]

Does he look like this?

 

[occb]

More like this:

 

[RobinN]

You two are funny :roflmao:

 

[Rae1889]

haha ha ha!

Why not like this:

CUTE AND FUNNY BUT STILL VERY SCARY VAMPIRE

 

[occb]

lol

Those hairless cats really do look like nosferatu!

 

[Rae1889]

I want a hairless cat so bad!!

 

[occb]

If my little kitter's allergy doesn't go away, I may soon have one!

 

[Rae1889]

lol just shave the kitteh!

 

[occb]

Ha! I think he'd just be traumatized by a shaving. He's be less than half his size, and he's not very big to begin with! That would be nearly as bad as the friggin' elizabethan collar the vet put on him so he wouldn't scratch his chin -- a cat with a cone around his neck in a small apartment full of furniture and guitars. That was the saddest sight I have ever witnessed *shakes head*

 

[Nakamova]

A sad sight yes, but imagining it made me laugh. I guess I'm a bad person.