In this handbook for sufferers, their clinicians, families and friends, Martha Morrell assembles a team of experts to review the special problems faced by women with epilepsy. In many ways epilepsy is a different disease in women than in men, given the biological and gender differences between the two. Epilepsy treatments affect fertility, and can cause pregnancy complications and birth defects, but most of the available drugs have been tested on men. Moreover, hormone effects on seizures are of particular concern to women at puberty, at menopause, and over the menstrual cycle. Many health-care providers are not informed about the unique issues facing women with epilepsy. This book, published in association with the Epilepsy Foundation of America, fills that gap and provides women with epilepsy with the information they need to be effective self-advocates.
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Part I. The Woman with Epilepsy: 1. Introduction Martha J. Morrell; 2. Being a woman with epilepsy Lisa Lindahl; 3. The woman with epilepsy: a historical perspective Orrin Devinsky; 4. Quality of life issues for women with epilepsy Joyce A. Cramer; Part II. Epilepsy Diagnosis and Treatment: 5. The genetics of epilepsy Melodie R. Winawer and Ruth Ottman; 6. Antiepileptic drugs and other treatments for epilepsy Jacqueline A. French; 7. Epilepsy in children and adolescents Patricia Crumine; 8. Non-epileptic seizures Steven C. Schacter; Part III. Hormones and the Brain: 9. Brian differences between men and women Paula Shear; 10. Sex hormones and how they act on the brain Philip A. Schwartzkroin; 11. Epilepsy and the menstrual cycle Patricia O. Shafer and Andrew D. Herzog; 12. Menopause and epilepsy Fariha Abbasi and Allan Krumholz; Part IV. Health Challenges for Women with Epilepsy: 13. Reproductive health Martha J. Morrell; 14. Sexual dysfunction in epilepsy Martha J. Morrell; 15. Bone health in women with epilepsy Robert Marcus; 16. Psychiatric complications in epilepsy Laura Marsh; Part V. Family Planning, Pregnancy and Parenting: 17. Family planning and contraceptive choice Pamela Crawford; 18. Obstetrical health and risk of birth defects Mark Yerby, Aline Derdiarian and Yasser Y. El-Sayed; 19. Neurocognitive outcome in children of mothers with epilepsy Kimford J. Meador; 20. Parents with epilepsy Mimi Callanan; Part VI. Living Well with Epilepsy: 21. The impact of epilepsy on relationships Patricia Gibson; 22. Parenting the daughter with epilepsy Joan Kessner Austin and Janet Austin Tooze; 23. Safety issues for women with epilepsy Jeanne Carpenter; 24. Work issues Jim Troxell; Appendix: the Epilepsy Foundation's Campaign for Women's Health Elizabeth A. Borda; Index.
