Effects of Seasonal and Climatic Changes on Epileptic Seizures

Introduction: Epileptic seizures are defined as sudden bursts of electrical activity in the brain. The most significant causes of seizures are family history and neurodevelopmental conditions, including genetic and developmental factors. Although studies have indicated that environmental factors may influence the occurrence of epileptic seizures. Consequently, this study was designed to examine the relationship between epileptic seizures and seasonality and climate conditions. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted retrospectively on cases of gastrointestinal hemorrhage that were admitted to the emergency department between 01/01/2023-31/12/2023 and had experienced an epileptic seizure were included in the study. The meteorological data for the Antalya Muratpaşa (07030) region, where the hospital is situated. Meteorological data, including temperature, relative humidity, dew point, pressure, wind speed, and weather conditions of patients diagnosed with epilepsy at the time of admission, were recorded and a daily database was created. Results: In the course of our study, we observed a total of 114 instances of epileptic seizures, yielding a prevalence rate of 0.03%. No significant difference was observed between the days with and without cases in terms of temperature, dew point, humidity, wind speed, and pressure. While epileptic seizures were most frequently observed on clear days (45.3%), no significant difference was observed in the comparison between case distributions and weather conditions (p = 0.140)..The analysis of the frequency of cases by month revealed that December exhibited the highest incidence of epileptic seizures. A significant difference was observed in the frequency of cases by month (p = 0.270). Conclusion: Although there are many factors affecting seizure frequency based on the results of our study, we think that there is no relationship between seizure frequency and meteorological factors such as temperature, Dew point, Humidity, wind speed and pressure