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Metformine, a drug which is commonly used to treat diabetes, may be an effective therapy for epilepsy, experts have claimed.

It is thought the discovery could be especially relevant to the proportion of patients who have recurrent seizures despite therapy with the best available drugs.

The fundamental effect of Metaformine is similar to a ketogenic diet, which is an attempt to significantly cut starch and sugar in the body.

Patients suffering with epilepsy have traditionally used this dietary strategy for centuries, which led Dr. Avtar Roopra and his team to wonder if drugs could engage with metabolic pathways and produce a similar result.

The team identified a small molecule in neurons that senses how much energy is available on hand.

Both glucose and Metformine turn on this sensor, which meant they were able to suppress over-active nerve cells by removing their ability to turn sugar into excess energy when the correct dose of the drug was administered.

Dr Roopra and his colleagues now intend to apply the results to a mouse model of epilepsy.


The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with epilepsy.

Pregnant women with epilepsy could benefit from a popular drug designed to reduce seizures while minimising birth defects.

Researchers at Emory University in the US found that lamotrigine can improve the overall health of expectant mothers and their unborn babies.

For the purposes of the study, 53 women taking lamotrigine underwent therapeutic drug monitoring throughout their pregnancies.

Although previous work had suggested that the treatment caused seizures to worsen, this latest experiment revealed that strict monitoring of the drug can actually lead to a reduction.

"Our findings provide a foundation for treatment guidelines to prevent increased seizure frequency and ultimately improve the health of the mother and foetus," confirmed Dr Page Pennell, director of the Emory Epilepsy Programme.

"This is important data considering current treatment guidelines do not address how to dose epilepsy drugs once women become pregnant; it’s really a benefit for both mothers and babies," she added.

Published in the online edition of Neurology, the latest findings mark the success of doctors specially trained to manage disorders of the brain and nervous system such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, as well as epilepsy.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with epilepsy