Keppra and migraine in children
A small study has indicated that there may be a benefit from the antiepileptic drug levetiracetam in children with migraine. Levetiracetam, sold as Keppra, is being reviewed for epilepsy use in children, and recently the makers of the drug funded a study to check out its use for migraine. The study involved only 30 people, but most did have a decrease in the frequency of their headaches.
Although the study is too small to give a conclusive result, it does point to the need for more study, and it’s encouraging to see that children with migraine are starting to be "noticed".
Keppra is approved in many countries and is used to control seizures while it’s being taken regularly. It controls excessive activity in the brain. It’s different than other antiepileptic drugs and may help us understand what’s happening in the "migraine brain" as well.
10 December 2011 @ 4:50 am
Thanks for this information, James. It’s good to know that new, effective medication are available to provide migraine relief for children. Being children, they would find it difficult to understand and accept migraine. As a parent myself, I have often heard other parents telling me that their children complain of headaches. What’s worse is that the parents of these children just brush it off as common headache.