According to information from a Brazilian study, kids suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy also suffer from severe depression symptoms. The results of this study were published in the journal Seizure.

The reason why depression is linked to temporal lobe epilepsy is because the temporal lobe in the brain is responsible for processing emotions. Kids who have this form of epilepsy are often depressed, but researchers have been at a loss as to how severe the depression is and how it is linked with clinical variables. Researchers at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil conducted this study by analyzing data collected from 31 children with temporal lobe epilepsy aged around 11. What they found was that 25 of them suffered from depression, and 84 percent suffered from severe symptoms of the condition. Age, gender and seizure severity were not a factor.

“Children with temporal lobe epilepsy had moderate to severe depressive symptoms early in the course of their disease with a relevant impact on their global functional activities, especially considering adolescents,” the study’s authors confirmed.

The researchers also stated that the severity of the epilepsy played no role in the severity of the depression. They concluded that more research is needed “to better understand the association of depressive disorders in children and adolescents with temporal lobe epilepsy.”

Epilepsy is a condition that is experienced by millions of people worldwide, and is treated with anti-seizure medications like Topamax. Topamax has been linked to an increased risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts as well as birth defects in women whose babies are exposed to the drug in-utero. Some of those birth defects linked to Topamax use during pregnancy include cleft lips, cleft palates, genital defects and other birth malformations.

If your baby was born with birth defects after in-utero exposure to Topamax, contact attorney Greg Jones today for a free consultation. I am experienced at fighting Topamax lawsuits and may be able to help you recover money for your child’s injuries.