Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ?4 allele status and several potentially modifiable midlife vascular and lifestyle factors were tied to late-onset epilepsy in a prospective cohort analysis.
Midlife hypertension, diabetes, smoking, activity level, and alcohol use – in addition to APOE allele number, stroke, and dementia – were associated with later-life epilepsy, reported Emily Johnson, MD, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and co-authors in JAMA Neurology.
By itself, homozygous APOE ?4 genotype roughly doubled the risk for new-onset epilepsy after age 60.
“This is the first time we have been able to identify a genetic risk for late-onset epilepsy – the apolipoprotein E4 gene,” Johnson told MedPage Today.