This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Joseph H. Siris, MD; William L. Werner, MD
Creedmoor Psychiatric Center Queens Village, NY

JAMA. 1978;239(5):402-403.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

The letter by Livingston and Pauli (237:1561, 1977) concerning the occasional adverse effect of anticonvulsant drugs (ACD) on the mental state is of particular interest to physicians in this hospital where approximately 10% of the mentally ill get medication for associated seizures. Our attention had earlier been drawn to this phenomenon by the work of Reynolds,¹ suggesting that it may be a result of altered vitamin B₁₂ and folic acid metabolism.

Our staff psychiatrists have been canvassed about this and requested to note a patient's mental state on days when blood samples are drawn for ACD determinations. In addition, EEG recordings are occasionally made on days of such determinations.

Except for rare instances where seizure control may be accompanied by aggressive paranoid behavior but ameliorated by the addition of neuroleptic medication, evidence of adverse effects on the mental state of patients receiving antiepileptic therapy appears . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?