Alzheimers’ Disease and Epilepsy: A Literature Review

Abstract

Context: The incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy increases with age and it is possible that they are interlinked. Evidence Acquisition: Medline literature search before April 2016. Results: In general, all authors agree that seizures, especially partial simplex or complex, can appear at any stage of the disease with greater frequency in the later stages or in younger subjects with familial Alzheimer’s disease. Seizures are often unrecognized by standard electroencephalograms but using prolonged recordings are recorded in more than 60% of the subjects. Some associated diseases, especially vascular complications or therapies, can help the appearance of the seizures. According to some authors, amyloid-β peptide or some metabolites trigger intermittent aberrant excitatory neuronal activity in the cortex and hippocampus. Conclusions: In Alzheimer’s disease, the seizures are frequent also in the early stages and can worsen the cognitive impairments. The national institute of neurological and communicative diseases and stroke/alzheimer’s disease and related disorders association (NINCDS-ADRDA) criteria state that the appearance of seizures at the onset or at very early stages of the Alzheimer’s disease is unlikely, but in light of the current knowledge, this statement needs to be modified.