Type-1 diabetes or juvenile diabetes is a condition of the body where the pancreas fails to produce insulin, which is the one that regulates a person's blood sugar level. This is usually diagnosed among children and young adults, and only 5 percent of people have this condition. A new study found out that people with type-1 diabetes may be more at risk of developing epilepsy compared to people without type-1 diabetes.
Researchers reported that children under 6 years-old with type-1 diabetes are six times more likely to develop epilepsy. However, those found to have the highest risk to have epilepsy are those children with type-1 diabetes in the hospital being treated for a severe drop in the blood sugar level (hypoglycemia).
According to I-Ching Chou, MD, from China Medical University Children's Hospital, in Taichung, Taiwan, and his colleagues, the results are the same with other limited research that believes there is a direct link between type-1 diabetes and epilepsy. They also believe that more research is needed to determine how this happens, but the doctors believe that different factors are at play, including immune abnormalities, brain lesions, genetic factors, and metabolic abnormalities, US News reported.
Study finds people with type 1 diabetes at increased risk of developing epilepsy https://t.co/RMj9ji0j1z pic.twitter.com/nHIn311krc
— epilepsy society (@epilepsysociety) April 1, 2016
The study authors also pointed out that when blood sugar levels are either too high or too low, it can trigger seizures especially in elderly people. It was also discovered that having type-1 diabetes at an early age and continuously having low blood sugar levels can put the child at risk for brain abnormalities.
"The pathogenetic mechanisms of neurological diseases [such as epilepsy] remain unknown, but may be associated with significant long-term neurological sequelae," they stress. Thus, the "causative factors between type 1 diabetes and the increased risk of epilepsy require further investigation," they conclude.
A report from Medscape said that the study authors used data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database where they pulled records for almost 2,600 children and adolescents with juvenile diabetes and compared it to a group of 26,600 people without the condition.
The results revealed that those with type-1 diabetes without hypoglycemia were at 2.67 risk of developing epilepsy while those with type-1 diabetes and hypoglycemia had a skyrocketing 16.5 times increased risk of developing epilepsy.
These findings support the hypothesis that "metabolic abnormalities of type 1 diabetes, such as hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, may have a damaging effect on the central nervous system and be associated with significant long-term neurological consequences," write Dr Chou and colleagues.
