For around one in three people with epilepsy, current antiseizure medications are ineffective, and they will continue to have seizures despite taking medication.

Drug resistance is associated with additional significant health risks in epilepsy, including a higher risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), alongside substantially higher healthcare costs.

A study led by researchers at UCL and UTHealth Houston, published in eBioMedicine, found strong evidence that certain common genetic factors may contribute to drug resistance in epilepsy.

These genetic signatures can be determined at the onset of epilepsy, rather than after several antiseizure medications have been tried without success.

This could eventually help to predict which individuals with epilepsy are likely to develop drug resistance and avoid unnecessary exposure to ineffective medications and their associated side effects.

Senior author, Professor Sanjay Sisodiya of UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, said: ‘Further work may enable doctors to use this information to help predict who may turn out to have drug-resistant epilepsy and may help doctors develop newer treatments for the condition.'

Around 625,800 people in the UK currently have epilepsy.