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Red Cell Folate and Macrocytosis During Long-Term Anticonvulsant Therapy in Non-Anaemic Mentally Retarded Epileptics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

R. D. Eastham ,
J. Jancar  and
J. D. Cameron
R. D. Eastham
Affiliation:
Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, BS16 1LE
J. Jancar
Affiliation:
Stoke Park Group Hospitals, Bristol, BS16 1QU
J. D. Cameron
Affiliation:
Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, BS16 1LE
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Extract

In a previous study, macrocytosis was found in non-anaemic mentally retarded epileptic patients treated with anticonvulsants, and a direct relationship was found between drug dose and the degree of macrocytosis, when the sole anticonvulsant given was phenobarbitone (Eastham and Jancar, 1970a and b). An attempt to use the measurement of red cell size to detect folate deficiency during anticonvulsant therapy before the development of overt anaemia was unsuccessful. Following these findings, yeast tablets were given as a natural source of folate to both epileptic and non-epileptic mentally retarded patients, and preliminary results showed that folate deficiency associated with long-term anticonvulsant therapy could be corrected within three months, without increasing either the frequency or the severity of convulsions in epileptic patients (Eastham and Jancar, 1971). Supplementary yeast tablets were therefore given routinely to all epileptic patients on anticonvulsant therapy in the hospital; there were no side effects from this medication.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 126 , Issue 3 , March 1975 , pp. 263 - 265
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1975 

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References

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