Diabetes epilepsy link

Young epileptic adults also suffer a greatly increased risk of having type 1 diabetes, according to the results of a study published in the Annals of Neurology. The incidence occurs amongst patients suffering from generalised epilepsies of an unknown origin, also known as ‘idiopathic’ epilepsies.
The idiopathic cases account for approximately 30 per cent of all epilepsy patients, according to doctors from the Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery based in Liverpool in England.
The doctors also highlighted the fact that diabetes and generalised epilepsies are similar in their medical influence, because of the enormous problems that they represent, and the high cost of medical treatment and social management.
The study comprised a group of 518 young adults with epilepsy, and examined incidences of type 1 diabetes. A second study group from the general population was also examined, containing 150,000 subjects.
Idiopathic epilepsy was shown to have a greater incidence amongst the type 1 diabetic population than the greater population. Meanings inferred from the results could be interpreted in several ways. Diabetes could be partly responsible for idiopathic generalised epilepsy, or the two conditions could have different ages of onset.