The Women’s Neurology Program is a cross-disciplinary collaboration within the Department of Neurology at Rhode Island Hospital, providing care for women with neurological disorders across the age spectrum.

What many people don’t know is that the brain has receptors for estrogen and progesterone, the two major female hormones. Fluctuations and cycling of these hormones throughout a woman’s lifetime can affect a number of neurological conditions. It is well known, for example, that hormones are a major trigger for women with migraine. But fewer people realize that about half of women with epilepsy find that seizures increase around their menstrual periods. Multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis are more common in young women, and headache and facial pain syndromes can affect women of any age. High levels of estrogen can increase the risk of blood clots including those that cause strokes and cerebrovascular disease – an issue affecting many women on birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, or currently pregnant. During pregnancy, many neurological conditions have special treatment implications, because a number of commonly used medications and tests can be harmful to the developing fetus. It is therefore very important for pregnant women with neurological concerns to see specialists who are comfortable treating both mother and baby!

Among the conditions we treat in women are:

• • Cerebrovascular Disease
  • Epilepsy and Seizures
  • Headache and facial pain syndromes
  • Hormone-related neurological conditions
  • Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (Pseudotumor Cerebri)
  • Hypercoagulable (Thrombophilic) Disorders
  • Memory Loss
  • Migraine
  • Myasthenia Gravis
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Neurodevelopmental disorders, genetic and otherwise
  • Neuropathy
  • Occipital Neuralgia
  • Pregnancy-related neurological disorders
  • Stroke
  • Tremor and Movement Disorders
  • Trigeminal Neuralgia

Useful Links:

Safety of Medicines in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding:

Reprotox.org

North American Pregnancy Registry (Reviews the safety of anticonvulsants in pregnancy):

aedpregnancyregistry.org

www.womensmedicine.org

Want to learn more about the Neurology of Pregnancy? A case-based curriculum for clinicians, residents, fellows and students is available for free at:
neurostories.com

Are you part of a Women’s Health practice? We would like to list you here! Contact JRoth1@lifespan.org for details.