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| |  IEC: Lamictal (Lamotrigine) Desirable Treatment Option For Women With Epilepsy BUENOS ARIES, ARGENTINA -- May 14, 2001 -- Healthcare professionals are not always aware of the special treatment needs of the 25 million women worldwide who suffer with epilepsy. In a recent survey conducted by the Epilepsy Foundation of America of more than 3500 US healthcare professionals, 73 percent of respondents could not identify which antiepiletic drugs are known to interfere with oral contraceptives (phenobarbital, phenytoin, primidone, carbamazepine and topiramate). Only a quarter of respondents were aware that reproductive disorders were more common among women with epilepsy and just over half of the healthcare professionals surveyed were aware that women may need to remain on therapy while pregnant. Women with epilepsy have greater difficulties becoming pregnant, are more likely to experience sexual difficulties, disruptions to their menstrual cycle and bear a greater risk of osteoporosis, as compared to women in the general population. Many anti-epilepsy drugs interfere with oral birth control and/or hormone replacement therapy and the use of some anti-epilepsy drugs during pregnancy has been associated with an increase risk of birth defects. "Physician education to improve the management of women with epilepsy should be a key priority." stated Martha Morrell, MD, president of the Epilepsy Foundation of America and Professor of Neurology at Columbia University. Throughout her career, Dr. Morrell has published and lectured widely on women's health and the impact of epilepsy on their reproductive lives. Data presented this week by GlaxoSmithKline at the International Epilepsy Congress, Buenos Aires, confirm that Lamictal® (lamotrigine) is a good anti-epilepsy drug option for women with epilepsy. Physicians already know that Lamictal is one of the few non-enzyme inducing antiepileptic drugs and so does not interfere with the effectiveness of oral birth control. However, new data confirms that Lamictal does not cause weight gain, and for the first time, demonstrates that long-term Lamictal monotherapy is not associated with a rise in male hormone levels, which may result in side effects such as the coarsening of facial features, acne and excessive hair growth. An open-label, multi-centre trial, monitoring 222 female epilepsy patients receiving either valproate or Lamictal as monotherapy, also concluded that fewer women receiving Lamictal reported irregular menstruation as compared to those receiving valproate. In contrast, new data, also presented this week at the International Epilepsy Congress, show that valproate may be associated with increased infertility, beyond that commonly experienced by women with epilepsy. Thirty percent of the 91 female epilepsy patients participating in the study failed to release an ovum during at least one of the three cycles Monitored (4). Women who had received valproate within the past three years failed more often to release an ovum as compared to women receiving other anti-epilepsy drug treatment (p<0.03). To date, with first-trimester Lamictal monotherapy exposures in approximately 100 pregnancies with known outcomes, Lamictal has not been associated with an increased incidence of birth defects, although, at present, there are insufficient data to know conclusively that it will not cause birth defects. GlaxoSmithKline maintains a central Lamictal pregnancy registry, and supports national AED pregnancy registers, to collect sufficient data to provide conclusive answers. Approximately, 40 percent of pregnancies are unplanned and 50 percent of women planning pregnancy do not consult a physician before becoming pregnant. For these reasons, Lamictal, or another AED not known be associated with birth defects, should be considered as first-line treatment for all women during their reproductive life. SOURCE: CPR Worldwide Related Link: GlaxoSmithKline.
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