Is there any kind of link between dementia and epilepsy ie could epilepsy occur because of changes in the brain caused by dementia?
I ask because my mum has dementia of indeterminate origin - depending on who you talk to it's Alzheimers, Vascular or Lewy Bodies. She also has Parkinson's disease and an under active thyroid plus I have suspicions that she may be on her way to type 2 diabetes. At some time during the last year Epilim appeared on her list of medications although no one can remember exactly who prescribed it, when and why! I have vague recollections of getting a call from her former 'care' home last year to say she had had some kind of seizure/fit. This will sound awful but I took it with a pinch of salt because the description was so vague and she seemed OK afterwards with no further incidence for quite some time. I was so complacent about it that getting Epilim taken off her prescription was on my extremely long list of things to do. Until today that is! I got a call this morning from her nursing home to say she had had a seizure this morning. They said it was only 'about 2 minutes' which, thinking about it, is quite a long time. She was also OK afterwards and seemed OK when I saw her tonight.
I am now wondering if the epilepsy is a 'side effect' of the dementia or even if it is epilepsy at all. There are other causes of fits and I am reasonably sure that in a younger, fitter person further investigations would be carried out.
Any advice/thoughts much appreciated.
I ask because my mum has dementia of indeterminate origin - depending on who you talk to it's Alzheimers, Vascular or Lewy Bodies. She also has Parkinson's disease and an under active thyroid plus I have suspicions that she may be on her way to type 2 diabetes. At some time during the last year Epilim appeared on her list of medications although no one can remember exactly who prescribed it, when and why! I have vague recollections of getting a call from her former 'care' home last year to say she had had some kind of seizure/fit. This will sound awful but I took it with a pinch of salt because the description was so vague and she seemed OK afterwards with no further incidence for quite some time. I was so complacent about it that getting Epilim taken off her prescription was on my extremely long list of things to do. Until today that is! I got a call this morning from her nursing home to say she had had a seizure this morning. They said it was only 'about 2 minutes' which, thinking about it, is quite a long time. She was also OK afterwards and seemed OK when I saw her tonight.
I am now wondering if the epilepsy is a 'side effect' of the dementia or even if it is epilepsy at all. There are other causes of fits and I am reasonably sure that in a younger, fitter person further investigations would be carried out.
Any advice/thoughts much appreciated.