Meditation and epilepsy: a still hung jury
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Published on: December 22, 2016
Erik K St Louis1, Ephraim Philip Lansky
1Department of Neurology, Iowa Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and Carver College of Medicine, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. erik-stlouis@uiowa.edu
Abstract:
Meditation has been advocated as a treatment for several medical problems, including epilepsy. Conversely, concern has been raised that meditation may aggravate or even precipitate epilepsy. We present a case of new onset mesial temporal lobe epilepsy in a young woman meditator lacking other apparent risk factors for epilepsy as a springboard for a balanced discussion concerning the potential relationship between meditation and epilepsy, and a criticism of the current literature in this field. Prospective clinical studies of meditators with video-electroencephalography and clinical trials of meditation in refractory epilepsy patients are needed to resolve current controversies concerning meditation and epilepsy.
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