TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - The dilemma of treatments for epileptic patients with depression
JO  - International journal of neuroscience
A1  - Yang, Yang
A1  - Gao, Xia
A1  - Xu, Yao
SP  - 566
EP  - 577
VL  - 125
IS  - 8
N2  - Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity. It may occur due to existence of other mental or physical diseases or from the medications for those illnesses. It is one of the leading sources of disability. Among these physical diseases, epilepsy is widely recognized as one of the main causes of depression. Patients with epilepsy are at high risk of developing depressive symptoms, and the suicide rates in patients with epilepsy have been reported to be much higher than in the general population. However, due to fears of lowering seizure threshold and adverse drug interactions between antidepressants and antiepileptic drugs, physician are reluctant to place patients with epilepsy on antidepressant medication. As a result, the question has been raised that what the best managements should be used to treat epileptic patients with depression. In this review, the currently used medications for antidepressants and antiepileptic drugs were summarized by their working targets in order to establish appropriate pharmacological management of depression and epilepsy. Despite the complex relationship between epilepsy and depression, coadministration of antidepressants and AEDs can still be done safely and effectively under the conditions of good clinical management. The ideal antidepressants for people with epilepsy should be efficacious but with few adverse effects, which will not antagonize GABAergic mechanisms or interfere with plasma anticonvulsant concentrations.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0020-7454
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/00207454.2014.959122
ID  - ref1
ER  -