Study, 2001
Can progesterone help reduce seizures that get worse before menstruation?
In one woman with epilepsy whose seizures worsened before her period, progesterone restored normal brain activity patterns, suggesting it may help control seizure-related brain changes during the menstrual cycle.
What they did
Researchers used transcranial magnetic stimulation (a brain measurement technique) to measure how reactive the brain's surface was at different points in one woman's menstrual cycle - shortly after her period started and again about one week before her next period.
What they found
The brain was less reactive during the week before menstruation than shortly after the period started. When progesterone was given during this time, brain reactivity returned to normal.
What it means for you
This suggests progesterone may help normalize the brain activity changes that occur before menstruation in women with seizures that worsen at this time. The main limitation is that this was only one woman, so we cannot know if it would work for others.
About the study
- Original title
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation evidence of a potential role for progesterone in the modulation of premenstrual corticocortical inhibition in a woman with catamenial seizure exacerbation
- Authors
- Herzog AG, Friedman MN, Freund S et al.
- Journal
- Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
- Year
- 2001
- Study design
- Study
- What was tested
- Progesterone treatment during the menstrual phase
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1006/ebeh.2001.0232