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People with epilepsy may be more likely to develop young-onset dementia than people without epilepsy, according to a study published in Neurology. Young-onset dementia, sometimes called early-onset dementia, develops before age 65. The study does not prove that epilepsy is a direct cause of young-onset dementia; it only shows an association.

"These results support integrating dementia prevention into the care of people with epilepsy," said study author Vincent Navarro, M.D., Ph.D., of Sorbonne University in Paris, France. "They may benefit from earlier assessments of their cognitive risks and intensified management of risk factors that can be modified, such as cardiovascular factors like high blood pressure."

The study used two methods in two countries. One looked back in time to see whether people with dementia had previously been diagnosed with epilepsy or used epilepsy drugs. The other followed people with epilepsy over time to see if they were diagnosed with dementia.

Using national databases in France and Sweden, researchers looked at people who were diagnosed with young-onset dementia and matched them each with 10 people of the same age and sex who did not have dementia. Then they looked back to see whether people had been diagnosed with epilepsy or used epilepsy drugs up to 10 years before.

A total of 11,360 people with young-onset dementia were compared with 113,600 people without dementia in France.

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