No abstract

Traditional Chinese medicine has been used to treat disease in China for more than five thousand years. Over the last few decades it has been used increasingly in other countries as well. As its use has spread, interest in the adverse effects of traditional Chinese medicine, including epilepsy and epileptic seizures, has grown. To date, four types of traditional Chinese medicine have been found to induce epileptic seizures. In this review we will summarize the current knowledge about possible epileptogenic mechanisms of nux vomica, illicium henryi, betelnut and mulberry drawing on botanical, phytochemical, toxicological and animal studies.

Tetramine, a banned rodenticide, is repeatedly reported to induce epileptic seizures in healthy people. Because both doctors and patients are often not aware of earlier tetramine contact, the occurrence of seizures is easily misdiagnosed as primary epilepsy. In this study, 8 cases in 2 families with generalized tonic-clonic seizures, most probably induced by tetramine, are presented. The clinical manifestation, electroencephalogram characteristics, and treatment measures of tetramine poisoning are summarized. There is the possibility of tetramine toxicity as a cause of epidemic epileptic seizures.