Micronutrients and epilepsy

Epilepsy is a devastating neurological disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. It creates a substantial financial, emotional, and physical burden on the patient, their families, and economically to a country. Common anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs), currently prescribed to epileptic patients, are ineffective in alleviating their burden. Thus, many epileptic patients are still suffering from uncontrolled seizures, and some are even living with AED-induced comorbidities. Dietary interventions such as micronutrients, which consist of vitamins, minerals, and trace elements, are gaining more attention as a possible therapy for epilepsy, due to their protective effects against seizures. Therefore, this chapter will review the current literature on the role of micronutrients in epilepsy. Epileptic patients often displayed some type of micronutrient deficiency. Vitamins B6, B12, D, E, and C, as well as magnesium, have evidently shown anti-epileptic effects with improvement in seizure activity after supplementation, especially when combined with AEDs.

Conversely, vitamin B1 only showed improvement in AED-induced deficits, while vitamin B9 and manganese were suggested to be proconvulsant upon high dose supplementation. Some micronutrients also lacked conclusive research to support effective supplementation. In conclusion, this chapter recommended potential micronutrients as an adjunctive therapy to AEDs that may become an effective treatment strategy for epileptic patients to lead a good quality of life.