A new meta-analysis has established an association between alcohol and epilepsy, in contrast to previous studies which reported conflicting results on the relationship.
Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological conditions, with an annual incidence of 40–70 per 100 000 people in industrialised countries. It is also a disease that is highly stigmatised.
A number of studies have focused on how alcohol consumption leads to provoked seizures, commonly resulting from alcohol withdrawal, or heavy intoxication. Very few of these however focused on the link between alcohol consumption and unprovoked seizures. A 2010 meta-analysis found that alcohol users were more prone to developing unprovoked seizures – but data from recent cohort studies contradict these findings. A 2018 meta-analysis suggested that the relationship may only hold true for heavy drinkers.
Now, using more accurate diagnostic methods and recent data, a team of scientists from Pusan National University, South Korea, conducted an updated meta-analysis to conclusively clarify the relationship between alcohol consumption and unprovoked seizures and epilepsy.
For this meta-analysis, appearing in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the researchers included a total of eight studies, of which five were case-control studies and three were cohort studies. They analysed the data to assess the dose-response relationship between alcohol intake and epilepsy. The results suggested that overall, compared to non-drinkers, alcohol drinkers were at a significantly higher risk of developing epilepsy, which increased with alcohol intake. These findings are consistent with previous meta-analyses.
An important finding was that cohort studies did not show a positive association between alcohol intake and epilepsy. In fact, 2 out of 3 cohort studies suggested that alcohol intake reduces the risk of epilepsy.
More large cohort studies are needed to prove a causal relationship between alcohol drinking and epilepsy, as well as a threshold of onset, said second author Professor Yun Hak Kim.
Source: EurekAlert!
